Heat of a Heavy Heart
by Akimika
Summary: May is being confronted by trouble from rival trainer Brendan. Just when she thinks she's on her way to getting all her badges, Brendan has to come and turn everything upside down! Maxie helps save her from danger, but will he be able to save her from the repercussions? What is he going to do with her? A redorbshipping story.
1. Don't Touch Me!

"What do you think your Pokemon do when you're not watching?" spoke a voice full of snark. It was curious enough, but it seemed like a baited question.

She didn't want to answer. All things considered, she didn't even want to talk to him. Just over and over again he kept coming back, just kept getting in her way with his arrogance and pomp. She marched on, walking a little faster.

"Not even going to answer, huh, May?" there was an agitated huff. "That's fine, I see you don't want me to grace you with your company today. Why are you so crabby lately?"

She had been walking ahead, just trying to ford her way through the forest. She stopped abrutly and turned around, her brown hair flipping over her shoulders. "Look, Brendan. After what you pulled at the falls, I don't even want to say I know you," May wore a pained scowl, "And right now you're doing exactly what you always do. I'm just trying to train without you belittling or objectifying me. Please!" She turned on her heel and continued on down the path.

"Zesty." Brendan smirked pertly.

May grit her teeth. As much as she pushed away he would just keep wiggling his way back into life. She knew so long as she was a trainer she would risk having to deal with him wherever she went.

"Where are you going, anyways?" Brendan questioned.

She just furrowed her brows. "Why does it matter? You can't possibly need to go this way, you haven't even gotten that last badge."

He feigned a worried look, "'Cause I care and I worry about the path you're walking down. Besides, I want to know what you're up to. I mean, I got all the time I want to get my badges since I'm super quick."

May slowed her pace a little. "I'm just… Trying to see some sights, okay? I'd like to see them alone."

"Are those sights that sharp scientist guy? You know I'm a way better sight, right?" He reached out to grab her arm.

She was frustrated already, and now she was nervous. Her senses heightened as he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. Her heart started to pound in such close proximity to him, her sight became fuzzy. "Knock it off, Brendan."

"C'mon, May~, we can see the sights together. Wouldn't you like that? We could have so much fun." The look in his eyes looked almost predatory. He already had her between him and a tree, with prickly bushes on either side. May shifted her sights to each side trying to find a way out.

"Please, Brendan, stop." She held her hands up in defense to keep him away from getting closer.

A smile spread across his face, casting a shadow on his eyes, "I like hearing you say my name."

May sidled to her right, trying to get away from him. The shrubs came up to her waist and wouldn't make it easy without scraping herself pretty badly. Today, she wished greatly that she had worn pants.

Another arm came from her other side to block her. He pulled her in, but she kept her arms up to keep him at least a foot away. She kept her distance, though his arms had gotten around to the backs of her shoulders, but she didn't know how long she could keep him away. She was lithe and nimble, but he was much more athletic than she was.

"So tell me about the sights we're going to see, May. I'm sure you- I mean they'll be lovely."

She shook her head. "I need to go, Brendan." She attempted to duck under his arms to slip around him, but he kept firm leverage under her arm. This time he pulled her up and shoved her against the tree, using his own body as force.

"Awww, please, not so fast. We can't go yet, we're just getting to know each other a little better." Brendan made a pleading face.

May looked off down the route. Her heart was pounding as she desperately looked for a way out. They couldn't have been too far from town… Maybe someone might hear the commotion. In a feeble attempt, she shouted louder at him, "Stop, Brendan! Don't do this!"

Brendan leveraged her against the tree so he could stroke the side of her face with his right hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. Everything's gonna be fine, alright?"

May tried to use her speed to her advantage. She went lax for a second, just enough for him to loosen his grip, before shoving him off with her whole body and trying to push away from the tree. She managed to get around to his side, but he was just too strong and held onto her arms. She wasn't able to shake him, but now he outwardly fought to keep her in his grasp.

There was something they hadn't noticed in the few moments of their scuffle. It wasn't until Brendan's head dropped down a little, his hat shifting to the side of his head, the force of someone's elbow making quick work of his grasp on May. It startled her just as much as she jumped away several feet and looked on.

A gruff voice rang out, "Whatever it is you're doing stops now, you damn prick." May's vision swam, the adrenaline pumping in her veins. She was tempted to just start running away from everything that was happening.

"Who the fuck—" Brendan started before being shoved to the ground face first.

May looked up from Brendan's prone form, glancing toward the speaker. She took a split second to recognize the red-haired figure. His glasses slid as he stepped back a few paces, pushing them back up with both hands, looking over towards her. "May— Is that you? Is this your friend?"

In her shock, she took a moment to account for the situation. Brendan was still on the ground, but turning over. There were three people dressed in red and black, standing not far from him.

"M-Maxie, what are you doing here?" She stammered. Her brown hair was tousled in the struggle, clothes slightly disheveled. She tried her best to hide the fact that she was shaking.

He waved his hand over at the two slightly shorter, red-hooded figures. "They heard a commotion so we came to check. Rustboro is only around the corner there."

Brendan had turned over and started to get leverage to lift himself up. "What's your problem, asshole? This isn't about you."

Maxie had swiftly moved to push his palm into Brendan's chest, pressing him against the tree. He was taller than Brendan, wider shouldered and framed with a curtain of red hair. "Apparently this isn't about you, either. Doing something that would cause someone to yell for help sure seems like you're trying to hurt someone or stir up trouble."

"Whatever, she's just overreacting, I wasn't going to do anything to her." He rolled his pert blue eyes at Maxie, the snarky smirk at one corner of his mouth.

"Overreacting or not, if I see you trying to cause trouble again I will put you in the ground." Maxie's eyes went very dark, his other hand grasping at Brendan's throat before letting go. He pushed away and strolled over to May. "Come with us back to town, May. I'm sure you could use a drink."

May bowed deeply. She was scared and there were tears at the edges of her eyes, but she was determined not to break down in front of Brendan or Team Magma. She sniffed slightly and quickly walked, trying to put some distance between her and the other trainer.

May, Maxie, and the two trainers from Team Magma briskly moved down the path. Maxie leaned over to her and grasped her shoulder gently as they walked. She was very visibly distressed, her eyes red and a little wet. She looked up, his glasses sliding down a little bit as he looked into her blue eyes. He tried his best to comfort her at a distance. "Hey, everything's going to be okay."

May sniffed. She didn't like Brendan to begin with, even when she met him in Littleroot. She didn't understand how anyone could like him and his cocky attitude or why he had to be so mean to her. "I know. Thank you for coming to get me, I'm not sure what he would've done."

"You don't have to think about that. Come on, we'll buy you lunch."


	2. Clouds Over Mt Chimney

Maxie stood at the cliff overlooking Mt. Chimney, his bright red hair being swept into his face by the hot wind of the volcano. He furrowed his brows as he looked across the expanse, most of it being shrouded in the smoke and ash floating up. Searching through the black and gray clouds of the volcano, he squinted, trying to see through to the other side. It couldn't be helped, he had to search around the mountain and find Archie before anyone else did.

He began to walk briskly, picking up the pace into a run. Two of his assistants trailed shortly behind as he ran west. Careful not to step into any pitfalls in the porous mountain face as he ran, he hadn't paid any attention to the grunt that hailed him as he got within range.

A gruff looking trainer in the signature blue of Team Aqua glared him down. "Maxie! You're not gonna go any further!" He pulled his tan hands up, holding two Pokéballs. "I won't let you do anything to interrupt the boss."

Maxie cocked his shoulders and made an indignant look at the grunt. "Really? You're going to do this? Ugh! Why do I have to deal with you interfering children!" He reached into his coat, procuring two of his own Pokéballs and tossing one out lackadaisically.

The Team Aqua grunt threw out a Pokéball, looking frustrated, "You'll eat those words!"

The grunt's Poochyena looked dwarfed across from Maxie's Mightyena. As they battled it out, Maxie made quick work of the grunt. Quickly stepping over the fainted Pokémon and running past the grunt, shouting as he passed, "Farewell, scrub!"

He ran on, hair getting in the way of his glasses. He opted to pull the hood of his coat over his head to keep the resistance to a minimum.

"Boss, you think they're this way? They could be around the other side," one of his assistants called out.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," he called back.

As they approached what was possibly the summit of the edge of Mt. Chimney, he saw the slender outline of a woman and heard a cry of frustration in the distance, "Wh-what was that!"

The three of them came up closer to the figure, clad in blue, with her arms crossed, a sullen look on her face. Brown hair draped around her tan face. "What the hell are you jerks doing here?"

"I'm here to stop your boss's evil plan. He can't use the meteorite, making this volcano inactive could have disastrous effects on the people on Hoenn!" Maxie yelled at her. It seemed so obvious that this extremist plan could harm so many people, why would they want to do that?

"Archie isn't evil, he only wants to do what's best for Pokémon, and the world! They are our future, why must we put them through this horrible existence? How can you talk, anyways, Maxie? You of all people can't possibly think yourself a saint with all the things you've done," the woman explained to him. "What better can you do for this world?"

Maxie pushed his glasses up, pushing his hair out of the way. "Shelly, I know he has you convinced. You have to snap out of it! What you are doing is dangerous beyond measure. Maybe someday you'll see. Now, please, just stay out of my way."

Shelly scoffed, her hair flipping over one shoulder. "That's fine, have it your way. He's up the bridge. Go teach that brat while you're at it."

Maxie furrowed his brows in curiosity, looking up at the bridge that stood out over the volcano's mouth. _What brat? _

"Come on, let's see what's going on." He called to his two assistants who had taken on two other Team Aqua members.

Running over the cloudy expanse of bridge, he saw shapes appear out of the haze. As they approached, they heard Archie's distinct, rumbling voice, but couldn't make out what he was saying.

Before them stood Archie. Tall and built like a house, his tan skin stood in stark contrast to the blue suit and bandana he wore. In front of Archie stood another figure, May, staring up at him with determination and fire in her eyes. Her face was framed in dark blonde hair, tied back with a red bandana as she glared at the tall man.

Archie still looked down at the girl, not noticing the three arrive. A hand came up to stroke the side of her face as he smirked, "Let's meet again somewhere. I'll be sure to remember that face."

As he looked down the bridge and started to make off, he glanced at the three dressed in red and black. He flashed a smile to them as he ran, shouting back at them "Have fun!"

Maxie stepped back as to not get run over by the sprinting Archie, scowling as he backed into his two assistants along the edge of the bridge. They pushed back, keeping him and themselves steady. "Careful, boss," said the small, sprightly one.

"It's… you again. I'm not sure what I expected, but I did not expect this," Maxie looked skeptical. "It was you? You did all of this, you took down Shelly and Archie?"

May looked on nervously but didn't say anything. She bowed to Maxie and his assistants for a long moment, her face flushed.

"Fortune must shine upon me to see you here," he said as he walked closer. "A small hero, you must be, with such lofty goals. And impressive power, as well." As he approached, he drew a hand up to push her hair behind an ear. May looked up at him, feeling as if she was being inspected. The look on his face was quizzical, strangely calm.

"I'm no hero. I'm just here to stop Team Aqua." May clenched her fists in front of her. She was suddenly so anxious, unsure what she should do.

Maxie flashed her the slightest of grins, the wrinkles on his face showing as he did so. "To me, I feel, that is a very heroic thing to do." He had to admit, he was more than a little interested. Of all the people in Hoenn he seems to keep running into, his goals, his path seemed to keep aligning with this girl. How demure she was, though, is what really made him so curious. No person this powerful is this shy.

_Earlier _

He wasn't sure what might've happened if he hadn't shown up, but he had stopped a young man from harming her. May looked very distraught, understandably so, and Maxie wasn't sure how to comfort someone in a situation like this. Maxie had tried to comfort her, but still she stayed very quiet, sniffing every now and then and trying not to cry. He had offered her a drink and lunch, which he purchased when they arrived in Rustboro, and though the visit was brief, he tried to talk about things that might lead her away from the anxiety and distress she might be feeling.

"So, you're a trainer, working on all the badges in Hoenn yet, right?" He asked curiously.

May nodded, emitting a little "Mm!" as she chewed. Her eyes were dry at this point, but she was still sniffing. She had tried to tidy herself and her hair, but was somewhat unsuccessful and was still disheveled from the scuffle.

"How far along are you?" Maxie looked positively friendly, which seemed a little unusual as he was typically very severe.

One of his assistants, stout and chubby, piped up. "What kind of Pokémon do you use?"

May sniffed, swallowing her food. "I have four badges. Mudkip and Kirlia help me out a lot."

Maxie looked a little disappointed by that, his features arranged a sad little smile, "Oh, no fire Pokémon?"

"There's so few… I've found a lot of water Pokémon, though."

"I guess you're right about that… Hoenn is full of water Pokémon, nothing like other countries." Maxie starred off, thinking about the faraway lands… His family lived in Unova. What was left of his family, anyways. He came here to Hoenn a long time ago for work, the developing area being a ground for growing sciences. There was much to be done as a matter of work, but in the past few years had been distracted by the endeavors coming about by Team Aqua.

May looked at Maxie, bowing at him slightly from her seat, "Thank you for the food, it really helps… And thank you again for what you did back there…" She trailed off and looked around, uneasy, rubbing her left arm with her right. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do if I see Brendan again, it seems like you made him pretty mad."

Maxie clenched his jaw. To think about what happened or what might've happened was atrocious. He was unsure what he could do to help without overstepping his boundaries. For all intents and purposes, he was just a stranger to May, having encountered her trying to deal with Team Aqua a few times. The other trainer, Brendan, had been there each time as if he didn't want to lose May's trail.

There was a lot he wanted to say and do, but knew it might frighten the girl were it unwelcome. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. "My dear, while I would say you shouldn't be afraid of that troublemaker, I'd be quite wrong. He seems like a wildcard that could do anything, and hurting you might be something he has in mind." Maxie fished a hand into one of his inside coat pockets and drew out a card, offering it to May with both hands. "Here. Should you ever find yourself in danger, or even if you're not sure, don't hesitate to call on me."

She looked at the card he offered, picking it up with both hands and reading over it. It was a red and black business card with the Team Magma logo on it. His name was in simple, conservative letters with the number to his PokéNav. With the card still in hand, she looked up at Maxie, but was a little confused. He looked legitimately worried, but May wasn't sure why he'd worry over her. She was just an amateur trainer, nothing of real import. Nodding her head, she said, "Thank you. I really appreciate your help."

"Anytime," he smiled solemnly, worry clear on his face. He looked at his two assistants, who had already finished eating. "Well, are we ready to head out?"

"Ready whenever you are, boss," chirped the smaller of the two.

The three of them stood up, chairs scuffing the ground as they pushed them back. Maxie nodded to May. "Farewell. Stay safe, May."

May smiled, her face a little red, whether from blushing or the heat of Mt. Chimney. She bowed very slightly to Maxie, "Thank you, sir. We should probably leave, all this ash and heat is making me tired." She went to start down the bridge, the Team Magma members following closely behind her as she began to trot, but after a dozen yards or so her knees gave out and she started to fall over.

The three gasped as they followed behind, all of them still moving toward her. Maxie was the first to grab her, his arms sliding under hers and around her torso from behind as she fell. As he lifted her up, she didn't seem to stand on her own…

Maxie looked to the other two as he held her up, distressed, "Tabitha, Courtney, is she okay?" His glasses slid down and the world came slightly out of focus.

The two assistants stood in front of May, the larger one reaching to push May's hair out of her eyes. She moved a hand to open one of May's eyes with her fingers gently, but they snapped back shut. "She's unconscious. Lay her down, quickly."

Taking a couple steps backward, Maxie very gingerly laid May out on the glass of the bridge, doing his best not to jar her as he lay her head down. Tabitha and Courtney knelt next to May, putting an ear to hear face. "She's still breathing… I wonder how long she's been up here."

"Come on," Maxie motioned the the two of them to stand. "Let's get her somewhere safe." He knelt down on one knee, easing his arms under her knees and neck before lifting her up in his arms. Shifting her to rest against his chest, he started sidling down the bridge.

"Do you need help, boss?" Courtney asked, concerned.

Maxie scowled. "I'll be fine, I'm not so aged that I can't carry someone." He picked up the pace as they walked down the rocky mountainside, assistants at his heel.

It was a long trek down, and not far along the jagged mountain pass he was starting to get tired. May wasn't very heavy, and he had Tabitha carry her backpack, but such a trip might've been meant for a younger man. The three of them journeyed down the mountain, but Maxie was taking heavier breaths as they went. So soon as he could tell they were out of the heat and in the forest again he knelt, very exasperated, to lay May down in the soft grass. He brushed her hair back away from her face as he leaned over to listen to her breathing.

It was faint, but there. May's chest rising and falling very slightly through her short, shallow breaths. Meanwhile, Maxie was gasping. He laid down on the grass not far from May to catch his breath, closing his eyes.

"You alright?" Courtney stood over him, violet hair hanging down under her hood.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to look up at her. "I'll be fine, just tired. Give me a few minutes and we'll be on our way again to take her to Lavaridge so she can be cared for."

Tabitha chimed in, "I could go get some water for all of us, it might help to wake up the girl."

"A splendid idea," Maxie said, closing his eyes again while Tabitha went off to find the nearest source of drink. Courtney sat down next to him, taking a rest.

"She's gonna be okay, boss. Just probably knocked herself out from being up on the volcano so long," trying to reassure him.

"I'm not… Well…" Maxie began, but decided against it.

"You're not what? Worried? You're a bad liar." Courtney rested her head and arms on her knees, looking down at him.

"Alright, a little worried, I might be. She's doing all my work for me, taking care of Team Aqua, why shouldn't I be worried for someone who is making my job easier?" Maxie faked a look of disdain. He closed his eyes again, crossing his arms against his chest as he thought to himself.

Courtney tilted her head as she looked very curiously at him. She wondered what was up with the boss. He looked… sad right now. Previously while he was talking to May, he looked excited or admiring. She bit her lip, looking over at the unconscious girl.

She scooted over to May, leaning over her. She pressed a hand to May's forehead and her cheeks. Picking up May's hand in her own, she felt her fingers and palm. May was cold to touch all over, her skin pale, but still breathing. Maxie had looked over when Courtney moved, sitting up on his elbows. "Boss, give me your coat."

He sat up, sliding off his jacket and handing it to Courtney, moving closer and sitting on his knees. She lay the jacket over May, covering her body and hands. Tabitha appeared again around the line of trees, bringing with her a plastic bag. She came over and sat down, handing the bag off to a pensive looking Maxie.

He took one of the bottles of water out of the bag, opening it. "Here, give me a hand," he motioned to help sit May up a little bit. Courtney leveraged herself under May's shoulders while Maxie held her head, pouring a tiny amount of water into her mouth. He leaned her head back, stroking her forehead gently with his free hand. They did this a couple times before May's eyes slowly fluttered open.

"What… What's going on?" Tabitha leaned over her at her feet, coming into vision, then Courtney to her right and Maxie to her left. May slowly turned her head. Everything hurt and her head was pounding.

The cold water bottle was pressed against her lips while Maxie spoke, "Shhhh, don't speak, just drink some water."

May was absolutely parched, she realized. She drank, swallowing the water slowly. After she had finished the whole bottle, she tried to sit up, but her arms and back hurt and she instead slipped, her arms sliding out from under her, Courtney and Maxie still holding her up.

"Not so fast, little Skitty!" Courtney said, supporting the girl.

Frustrated, May scowled. She felt so weak, so powerless!

Maxie began, "Take it easy, May. You blacked out up on Mt. Chimney. We carried you down-"

"_He _carried you down, don't let him fool you," Courtney said, raising her eyebrows.

Glaring ever so slightly at Courtney before looking back down at May, he continued, "You must have been up there too long, the ash and heat probably got to you. You're safe now."

May's face flushed to the lightest shade of pink before averting her eyes. She felt really grateful for their help and support, but she wasn't sure what to think. Maxie intimidated her, she started feeling anxious and unsteady whenever she saw him. Granted, all of Team Magma intimidated her, but not quite to this extent. The quietest peep came from her, "Th- thank you. Thank you all for your help, I don't know how I can repay you."

"Do not worry yourself over that. We should get you to a hospital," Maxie said, pressing the back of his hand to May's forehead, still cold. He slid his arms under her again before boosting her up from one knee, then the other, then resting her against his shoulder. They started trodding down the path toward Lavaridge.

"Please, I can walk, it's okay," May pleaded meekly, nestled on Maxie's shoulder, her arms crossed against her chest under his coat.

He shook his head, talking quietly under his breath to her, "Like hell you can, you can barely speak."

She decided not to argue further, considering herself fortunate as he was probably right. She just tried to relax as to not rile herself into too much of an anxious frenzy.

As they came upon the town, Courtney and Tabitha lead the way into the nearest Pokémon center. Courtney called to one of the nurses, "Is there a doctor available? This girl needs some attention."

The pink haired nurse behind the counter looked concerned. "Hold on, come lay her down here." She sidled out from the counter to wheel a bed over into the lobby. Max eased May up onto the bed, leaving his jacket to warm her. The nurse wheeled the bed back to a clinic room. "I'll go get the doctor."

Tabitha and Courtney sat down in the chairs of the room while Maxie leaned against a wall. Staring off into space. They sat in a heavy silence in the room while they waited, none of them sure what to say.

May clenched her fists, pulling the jacket close to her face and sitting with her back against the inclined bed. It smelled of the ash and smoke of the volcano, seemingly funny for a group named Team Magma. She wondered to herself what she should do, these people have been so kind to her and helped her beyond measure already. She hid her face in the collar of the jacket, her hair tumbling over.

Maxie crossed his arms, trying to set the most neutral, steely face he could with a heart burdened with worry for this girl. Was it pity? He didn't pity her, he admired her. Respect? While he did respect her, it wasn't that. He felt so strange.

The doctor walked in, average height with a head of white hair. As he did, Maxie stood by the bed, Courtney standing up. The doctor came over and asked May questions, checking her throat and temperature. In the end, giving her some medicine and telling her to take things easy, drink a lot of water, and not to push herself too hard.

They all stood to leave, May shifting to the edge of the bed. Maxie offered his hand to help her down and May, taking it with a slight bow to him, used it to get down and steady her footing. She held out the jacket to Maxie. "I guess you're gonna need this," May said, smiling sheepishly. "Thank you for letting me use it."

"I suppose so," Maxie nodded and took the jacket back, slipping it back on over his shoulders. "Don't thank me, thank Courtney, really. Everything was her idea."

Tabitha chimed in, "Hey, I was the one that went to get water!"

He made a carefree shrug at the thought, smiling, "Alright, you can blame Tabitha, too." Courtney simply shook her head, eyebrows raised.

As they walked out of the Pokémon center, May stopped outside the door, bowing as low as she could to the three of them. "Thank you all so much."

"Hey, come here," Maxie said, May standing up from her bow. He opened his arms, invitingly. May obliged, putting her arms around his chest as he wrapped her in an embrace. "You have to take care of yourself, okay? I know we cannot always be there to save you."

"I-... I know. Thank you for everything, I really don't know how I can repay you," May felt tears well up in her eyes.

"You don't have to. Just keep being amazing," he smirked, the wrinkles at the corner of his mouth and crows feet at his eyes played to his detriment, showing the relief he felt that she was okay. He patted her hair gently, as she was holding on to his torso for an extended moment, and she let go, stepping back. "I'm sure you can hold your own, but remember we're here if you need it."

Her heart was beating harder than she ever imagined possible. She was so grateful, but so equally nervous. Just trying to keep her wits about her, she just thought about breathing deeply. May only bowed once more as she backed up and turned quickly to start walking down the path.

As the three of them waved her off, Maxie turned to the other two. "So, shall we be off?" he smiled, somewhat awkwardly as he shrugged.

Both of them raised their eyebrows at him, prompting him to smile more ridiculously. "What can I do for both of you?"

Courtney simply scoffed, her eyebrows telling a tale of her curiosity. "Nothing."

"Well, I'm sure we've got work to do. Come on, both of you," He beckoned, trying to shrug off any nervousness he might've felt creeping into his limbs as they began their trek to the next city.


	3. Rescuer

There were whispers. The sigh and sway of a soft voice as she spoke very quietly, as if she was speaking secretively.

He sat on a hard cement floor, the corner of a room. Where was he? It was dark, with faint light scattered against the wall as if there was a light on in the hallway. He put a hand to his forehead, wiping away the sweat that was rolling down the side of his face and feeling that his hair was also wet. Glancing at his hand, it was covered in red. He laid his head back, knocking his head against the wall.

"Shit," he breathed deeply, clutching at the side of his head that appeared to be bleeding. "What the hell happened?"

"It's gonna be okay, I'm here," a hand laid against the uninjured side of his head.

Maxie tried to look up at the speaker, but he was becoming incredibly tired. His head felt so heavy he couldn't lift it anymore, just relaxed against the cold wall. All he could see were shadows all around and the outline of the open door across the room.

He could feel his hair being stroked as he closed his eyes. A trembling voice whispered, "I'm right here, Maxie, stay with me." He couldn't stay awake any longer...

Maxie shot up, hands still clutching at the red sheets. Hair clung to his forehead, covered in sweat. He didn't understand, why did he keep having fever dreams? He put a hand up, wiping his forehead and then looking at his hands. No blood.

Leaning over to the bedside table, he picked up his glasses and put them on. Just in his bedroom housing a pretty minimal, bedside tables in black, dresser in gray, red walls. He moved to slide out of bed and get dressed in uniform. He wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon, so maybe a shower and some fresh air would help him shake the dreams.

May hadn't seen her father in quite some time, nor her mother. She didn't see much point in going home, deciding against spending too much time traveling back and forth between Littleroot town, she was keeping her sights straightforward in getting her badges at the moment. However, right now, she felt she needed her dad's help.

She went through her routine, challenging the gym to fight after fight until she had proven that she can stand against even the quickest and most skilled trainers. After she got into the balance room, she saw her father. He stood with his back turned to her, looking out the window at the lake. May cleared her throat.

Norman turned around, "Hmm?" he said, raising his eyebrows as he saw her. "May! How are you doing, sweetie?" He ran over and swept her up in an embrace, squeezing her.

May smiled, relieved to see her dad. "I'm fine, dad! How are things?"

Norman held her close for a second and let go. "Pretty good. I saw Brendan and Wally come through a while ago, so they got their badges just a bit ago."

May stiffened at the mention of Brendan, her nerves on edge. She tried her best to push away the anxiety that began to well up in her chest. "Wally has gotten that strong, huh?"

Norman smiled, "He sure has, thanks to you. I think they're on their way to Fortree by now." Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a Pokéball. "I suppose I promised you a Pokémon battle, didn't I?"

"I do need that badge," May smiled, putting up her fists, "Otherwise I'm gonna have to fight you for it."

"Oh, well, we wouldn't want that!" He threw back his head in a laugh, taking a few playful punches to the arm from her.

"Dad, I'm a force to be reckoned with!" she shouted, a look of mock insult on her face.

He swung around and hugged her about the shoulders. "I'm certain you are. Now you just have to prove it!" Running to the other side of the room, Norman threw out the Pokéball.

Her Swampert held fast against the normal Pokémon her father possessed. It was little trouble to her, since all this time she had spent in the fields and forests practicing and practicing with every trainer she met. She had fierce determination and strength and knew almost every move that she would have to pull for her to counter or capitalize on the opponent's Pokémon.

It took little time to demonstrate to her father that her prowess had far surpassed what he expected. As Norman called back his final Pokémon, Slaking, he leaned back against the wall in disbelief. "I can't believe it. Beaten by my own daughter, I never thought I'd see the day!" He fished around in his jacket and handed her a small metal barbell-shaped badge. "I'm… happy, but a little sad, too. I'm proud to see you come this far. I'm sure before long I'll be seeing you as the champion." He walked over and hugged May one more time.

"Thank you, dad. I'm going to get there." May smiled. It was bittersweet, defeating her father. She was so strong with Pokémon, but she felt so weak all the time, especially right now. Arms wrapped around him, she trembled a little before a tear ran down her face. She held on for a long moment and sniffed.

Norman leaned over to look her in the face. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she went to sniff again and wipe her eyes, but unintentionally sobbed. "Fine! Fine, I'll be fine."

"You really don't seem fine, May. What's wrong? There's got to be something that has you this upset." Norman rubbed her shoulders, looking concerned.

Taking a moment to regain her composure, she breathed deep, clearing her eyes again. "I… I don't know what to do, dad."

He brushed her hair back from her eyes. "About what, sweetie?"

"Something happened… a while ago…" May tried to find the words to continue without giving away the details. She couldn't tell him about Brendan because she wasn't sure what he might do. What could he do against the Professor's son? "In the forest by Rustboro, I was attacked."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Concern and worry laid across Norman's face. He clenched his jaw.

She took another sobbing breath before continuing. "There was this trainer that cornered me, he…" She shook, "He tried to hurt me."

"Who was it? Did you know them? Are you okay? May, what can I do?"

"I'm fine, dad, like I said. He didn't do anything, but I'm scared that I might run into him again. I know I probably will." May spoke between sobs, trying not to cry.

Norman looked perceivably angry at this information. "If you know who it was, you can tell me. I'll find them."

"No, dad, no. Please, I just… I just don't know what to do to protect myself from him. I don't know what'll happen if I see him again." She sniffed, "A few really nice people came… They stopped him before he did anything."

He didn't have much in the way of personal protection items. The country of Hoenn was, altogether, a very wholesome country. They didn't deal much with crime issues, because people and Pokémon protected each other. Norman thought for a moment and reached back into his pants pocket and pulled out a pocket knife.

"I don't like to encourage violence, and you need to take care, but if you're ever in a situation where you can't call on someone or your Pokémon for help, take this." He handed her the knife. "Use it only in such a case, please."

"Thank you, dad." She took it, looking at the fine wooden handle, flipping out the blade. It was well used and oiled, sharpened recently. She closed it again. "I hope I don't need it."

"I have faith in you, May. You're so strong, believe in yourself. If you use your Pokémon to your advantage, no one can hurt you." He smiled comfortingly, one arm around her shoulders and the other rubbing her head. "It's going to be alright," he let her go and started walking toward the door with her. "And May, don't forget to visit your mother. It's been a long time since she's seen you, even though you might feel like hasn't been that long since you left. I'm sure the training and your friends take up a lot, but it's important to us."

"I will, dad, thank you." She sniffed again and smiled at him. "I love you."

Nudging her as she walked through the doorway, he talked as she backed away. "I love you, too, honey. Be safe."

May bowed, passing through the rooms of the gym as she left. She got out the doors and sighed deeply.

A familiar head of green hair wobbled over, "May! May! Did you get your badge? I just got mine, too!"

"That's great, Wally! I just got mine, now I've gotta head to Fortree." She smiled at him. He was smaller and more frail than her, but he has always been very sick. He seemed to be doing so much better since he started training.

"Do you want to walk together for a little bit?" He asked excitedly.

May smiled wider, "Sure, that'd be great!"

Slipping the knife into her front shorts pocket, they started walking their way east. They talked mostly about what Pokémon they had encountered. Wally had only caught a few in his time training, because he got tired so fast, but May told him about all the wonderful Pokémon she had found.

"May, I wanna be as strong as you someday. Maybe I'll beat the Pokémon League someday!" Wally said, his pale complexion showed pink.

She smiled and walked, putting an arm around his shoulders. "You will! We both will. We'll both be champions, okay?"

"Okay!" Wally said happily.

They reached the shore of the river. May pulled a Pokéball out of her bag and called on Swampert. Swampert appeared in the sand, stretching his legs and looking at May, easing down so she could climb on top of him. Wally looked a little uncomfortable. "I'm gonna go up this way. I don't have any Pokémon that can go through the water yet. I'll see you at Fortree, though!"

May looked disappointed, but tried to force a smile. "Okay! I'll see you there…"

Wally flashed her a big smile and waved at her, beginning to head up the grassy path north.

May looked down at Swampert. It's not that she didn't want Wally to go, she just didn't want to be alone, not especially after recounting the events that happened with Brendan. However, she pushed on, ordering Swampert into the water to swim across the river.

It wasn't long before her fears came true. One day on her journey to Fortree, while crossing a wooden bridge over the river, May saw that familiar face calling to her.

"May! Hey! How are you doing?" Brendan called, dressed in his usual red and black athletic wear as he ran over.

She became rigid instantly, her whole body tightening up. She put on a little smile, but was still fairly certain her concern showed on her face. "Hey… Brendan! I'm good, how are you doing?"

"I've been fantastic, thanks for asking!" He said as he approached, clapping her shoulder with one hand. "Hey, look, so I know I got carried away the last time I saw you. I just wanted to apologize, I really don't know what I was thinking." He had the most indifferent smile, as if he didn't know the gravity of the story he was trying to convince her of.

May looked uncomfortable, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as she talked, but forced her smile still. "It's… it's alright."

"Oh, thank goodness! I knew you'd forgive me. Hey, look, so are you heading to Fortree?" Brendan looked way too enthusiastic sometimes.

"Yeah, yeah I am." May tried to keep walking.

"Do you wanna go together? I think it'd be easier, and we could protect each other in case those Team Aquanerds show up!" Brendan made a punching motion in the air. "I've seen them a lot lately."

May nodded rather pessimistically, "Yeah, sure." She was mostly unsure what to say to him, but she was really nervous. She didn't know how this was going to go.

Lapsing into silence, they walked. They weren't all too far from Fortree, at least they must have been close for how long she'd been on the road. This is the furthest she'd traveled between towns. May looked ahead, trying to think just about getting to the next town. She touched the front of her shorts, feeling the outline of the pocket knife her father gave her to calm herself down.

It was already starting to get dark when he came running up, so soon it would be time to set up camp somewhere if they didn't reach town. May started to veer off the path, looking around for a clearing free of shrubs or rocks so they could settle in.

Brendan glanced over. He'd been trying to make conversation for a while now, asking her questions about her Pokémon, what she's been up to, what kind of moves she's found, but she kept falling back into silence after nodding or just humming an answer to his questions. "Hey, what's up?" he called over.

"I'm just trying to find a place to settle for the night, it's getting kinda dark." May replied.

He looked around, "That's a pretty good idea. I usually wander around until it's too dark to set up my tent, so you're probably on to something."

The sun was already sitting below the line of trees, the sky a glowing red and orange, May found a small clearing wide enough to put up a couple tents. She had some easy food to eat, so she didn't have to worry about setting up a fire for dinner. "Here should be good."

Brendan nodded. "You want some help with your tent?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm good. Thank you, though." She tried to avoid him getting close as best she could. She set up the tent pretty easily and laid out her bedding. Sitting in front of her tent and getting some food out to eat, she was still on edge, almost shaking. She attempted to try breathing exercises to calm herself and, when that didn't work, decided to walk around and do something.

He looked up from setting up his tent. "Hey, where're you going?"

"I just, um, I just need to walk around a little." She tried to sidle away, pulling her PokéNav out of her bag.

Brendan scowled in suspicion, looking leerily at her as he went back to setting up his tent.

May walked down the path a bit, trying to find somewhere open and notable. She peered around, trying to make sure she wasn't being followed. There was so little out here, just the river and the forest. She had passed the Weather Institute yesterday, but that was already far. Settling on a place by the river, she climbed down to sit on the ledge and opened the PokéNav, clicking over to her contacts. She looked through the list of names, her finger hovering above the name "Maxie". She sat there for a moment staring at it and decided to click on the call button before she could second guess herself.

She felt cold, her whole body trembling as she nervously listened to the ringing sound for several seconds. Maybe he wasn't going to pick up. Maybe tonight wouldn't be that bad, Brendan would keep to himself and that was that. She was afraid that might not be the case, though.

"Hello?" a muffled voice, then a picture on the device's screen appeared. Just the top of a head of red hair at first, then a bespectacled face. "Hello? Who is this?" He called again.

May starred at the screen in a sort of disbelief. "Hey, it's me, May, I don't know if you remember me."

"I do remember you, May. It would take a much worse memory than mine to forget a small hero like yourself." Maxie said, a small but comforting smirk spread across his face.

"Th- Thank you, sir." May said nervously.

"You don't have to call me 'sir', I have a name and it's Maxie, I'll have you know." He smirked mischievously, pushing his glasses up. His eyes looked alight as he gazed through the tiny screen.

"Well, thank you… Maxie." May obliged. "I'm sorry to bother you…"

"Is there something I can help you with, dear?" He raised his eyebrows, concerned.

"I, um, I know you said to call if I was in trouble… I'm not, but…"

"Are you safe?" He asked, his face getting a little bigger on the screen as he peered closer.

She nodded. "I'm fine, I… I ran into Brendan again."

"Is everything alright? Did he do anything to you?" There was a sound of urgency in his voice.

May shook her head. "No, but I'm afraid he might. I don't know how far away we are from Fortree, but we set up camp together."

Maxie frowned. "Are you going to be okay? I can come help if you need me to do so."

"I don't know… I feel like I shouldn't stay…" May said, quietly. She felt so much more at ease, talking to him, her shoulders relaxing as she peered into the PokéNav screen.

She heard a voice behind her. "May, what's going on?" Brendan said as he walked up.

"Nothing, just talking to a friend." May looked up at Brendan cautiously as he approached, her whole body becoming tense again.

"Oh? Anyone I know?" Brendan squatted beside her, peering over her shoulder intrusively as she held the PokéNav to her chest. "Is that the lava nerd that showed up by Rustboro? What is with you and him? You going out?" Brendan seemed annoyed, talking loud enough for Maxie to hear on the other end.

"No… We… I just… Look, Brendan, he saved me from up on Mt. Chimney, so I was just seeing how he was doing." May tried to reason with him.

The little voice radiated from the screen, "May, is everything alright?"

"So he's Mr. Hero. Why do you even like guys like that?" Brendan argued. He was getting awfully unreasonable and May wasn't sure what to do.

"What does it matter to you? It's not like I'm your girlfriend or something." May was shaking.

Brendan lunged for the PokéNav, grabbing it and throwing it down the cliff.

May was stunned. What? Why would he do that?

"May, is everything alright?" Maxie tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke.

He stared at the screen as he listened to what was going on from the other side. After a moment, the screen blurred, nothing in particular coming into focus for a few moments, and then going black as the call ended, showing a silver and green screen on the PokéNav that said "Call ended. Call again?"

Pressing the "Call again" button, he knew it probably wouldn't work, but listened as the line rang and went to a generic message saying this trainer was unavailable. He put the PokéNav down on the desk, resting his chin on his hands as he stared ahead.

Should he go look for her? He should, he knew she was probably in danger from the conversation he heard. Wracked with worry, he realized his hands were trembling as he just tried to sit and steady himself for the moment.

He stood, pushing his chair back and pulling open a drawer to his desk, pulling out some Pokéballs and stuffing them into an inside pocket of his jacket. He walked out the office door and past a small reception area connected to it into the hallway. Briskly walking down the gray and red lined hallways, passing some other Team Magma members as he went.

As he was just about to head out the main entryway, Courtney waved him down. Maxie cursed under his breath, scowling as he waved back at her. He really didn't want to have to explain where he was going for whatever reason.

"Hey boss, where ya going?" Courtney walked over, violet hair bouncing as she walked.

Maxie struggled, trying to find an excuse. "I am… Just heading over to Fortree for a bit."

Courtney frowned. "What's going on there?"

"I just heard some reports of some commotion going on there and I wanted to check it out," he assured her.

Tilting her head, she said "Well, let me go grab Tabitha and we can come along in case there's something happening."

"No. No, I'm just going to go check it out and I'll be back. Please do not worry about it, Courtney." He waved her off, shaking his head. He pushed his glasses up as he fished a Pokéball out of his jacket pocket.

Courtney scowled at him, peering suspiciously. There has to be something going on. She had to ask Tabitha if she'd heard anything. "If you say so, boss." She crossed her arms, walking to the other side of the hallway before calling over, "When do you think you'll be back?"

"Later." Maxie replied, bluntly as he started to walk to the entryway again. "Don't wait up for me, I might be late."

Courtney just watched as he left, calling on a rather large Golbat before disappearing off around the corner of the entrance.

May sat, stunned in silence as she looked down the cliff.

"Maybe that's what I want, May. You just keep stonewalling me and I just want to show you how much I want you." Brendan cornered her on the edge of the cliff.

"Stop, that's not how I think of you, Brendan." May shook her head. She was trying to scoot around to get off the edge of the cliff. She had just gotten her legs up over the edge and onto solid land.

"Please, let me just… let me just show you." Brendan grabbed one of her shoulders, pushing her onto her back, prone to him. May put her hands up in defense, pressing against his chest, but he pushed all of his weight onto her.

Brendan pressed on her shoulders with all his weight and hiked one knee over her leg to rest a knee between hers. May tried to get one of her hands free, but they were sandwiched between his body pressed on top of hers. The look on his face told her that she was just prey to him, a vicious look in his eyes.

"We would be great together, May," he said, a disturbing smile crossing his face.

"No, stop!" She shouted, trying to push him off of her.

"Looks like you don't have magma hero here to beat me up this time." Brendan spoke quietly into her ear and he kissed and bit at May's neck aggressively

May struggled, "Nnnn! Please stop..." she kept trying to roll Brendan off of her. Tears started rolling down her face. This wasn't good. She could only think about how much she wish she hadn't let her guard down with him nearby.

Brendan used one of his hands to feel the side of May's body, moving from her hip all the way to her chest. He started to work at the edge of her shirt when he raised himself up enough for May to get her hands free. She fumbled with her pockets to pull out the knife her father gave her, flipping it open. Brendan had just pushed up her shirt enough to reveal her bra when she cut his arm, blood dribbling down his arm and falling on the ground.

"You stupid bitch!" He reacted poorly to the pain, opting instead to punch her with his other arm.

More tears sprang into her eyes, clouding her vision. Before he could nail down her arms, she pushed him again, unable to budge his weight in this condition. He was trying to get ahold of her wrists when she jammed the knife into his side, piercing the skin and sinking it deep in his abdomen. He shouted, "Fucking hell!"

This caused Brendan to roll off her and clutch at the wound, gushing blood onto the dirt. May used this opening to push herself up and just run, bloody knife in hand. She started up the path north, running along the river. All her senses were on fire as she ran as fast as she could. She didn't know when or whether Brendan would follow her, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

Her sides were burning, running so fast and so far in such a short amount of time. Tears were still streaming down her face as she slowed her running, as she realized she still had an open knife in her hand. She closed the knife and put it back in her pocket, trying to straighten herself as she went since she was determined not to stop.

It was dark already, the sun had set quite a while ago and she was running through the woods alone. She tried listening to see if she could hear any other footsteps or running, but she couldn't. How long had she been running by now? How far could Fortree be?

She continued on until, in the far distance, she could see the lights of a Pokémon center. It was still a ways, but it was a safe place to get to. She just aimed to get there, one foot in front of the other.

As she got closer to the building, she could make out people in front of it, someone heading down the path towards her. She kept running, her lungs going on strike as she gasped for air.

The person walking briskly down the path got closer and, as they came into view, began running. May had slowed down her run to a jog, still gasping as the figure opened their arms and swept her up in a tight embrace.

"May!" It was the familiar bespectacled face. "May, I'm here."

May sobbed, gasping for air and crying into his shoulder. She tried to talk but was reduced to making noises between sobs.

"It's going to be okay, shhhh," he stroked her hair holding her close and rocking her side to side gently. "Everything's going to be okay, I won't let anyone hurt you."

After a few solid minutes of sobbing, May mustered the strength to form words again, but still cried while talking. To any onlookers it would've sounded like squeaky moaning. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"You didn't do anything, dear, don't feel like this is your fault. Brendan is just a poor excuse for a human being. Now, what happened?"

She sniffed a few times before answering. "He threw the PokéNav over the cliff and…" She sobbed, "and held me down. I was so scared, I cut him and there was blood everywhere." May continued to cry, trying to hold back.

Maxie looked down, questioningly, bringing a hand up to her face to look at him. "Did you kill him?"

"No! No…" May stopped, going rigid for a moment. What if she killed Brendan? What's going to happen to her? "I cut his arm and stabbed his side when he tried to force himself on me…"

He looked so concerned. May felt the pain of exhaustion come on as she relaxed in his arms. "Maxie, what am I going to do?" she said quietly, still sniffing.

Maxie thought for a moment, still stroking her hair idly. He pulled her chin up again to look her in the eyes. "Come back with me to the Magma headquarters. We can watch over you there."

"But what if I killed him? What if he's dying out there? We should send somebody to find him!" May pleaded.

Maxie pressed a finger to her lips while shaking his head. "You didn't do anything wrong, you were defending yourself. If you don't do something to get away, he's going to retaliate and hurt you!"

"We should still tell someone…"

"Fine, we will, but you or I are not going to look for him." Maxie agreed to go along with that. "For now, I'm going to bring you with me. I can keep you safe."

May sniffed, looking up at him and nodding. Her eyes felt so raw from crying and her body was sore from all the running and panic. She had left just about everything back there, save for her Pokéballs and medicine. Maxie pressed a hand to the back of her head, laying it back against his shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay, May, I promise."

"Thank you… For everything…" May squeaked.

"Don't thank me. Let's go tell someone he's out there." He let go, turning to walk towards the light of the Pokémon Center. May nodded and walked behind him.

As they drew closer to the light, Maxie looked over. "Oh my goodness, May. You're covered in blood!" He stopped in the path to look her over. May looked like a scared animal, covered in someone else's blood, bruises along her face and neck.

She looked down. Her shorts, part of her shirt, her hand, and leg were covered in maroon. She was in disbelief of it all at this point.

"We should find you some new clothes and find a place to stay for tonight." he suggested.

"I guess so." May agreed.

As they walked into the town, Maxie called for her to wait. "I'm going to go tell someone what happened and let them know he's out there. Just stay here." May looked at him, unsure what to do with herself. She tugged at the edge of her shirt, wondering how to cover everything up.

He frowned. "Here," he said, slipping off his coat and settling it around her shoulders. It covered just about everything below her calves.

She murmured to him a weak "Thank you" as he walked into the Pokémon Center.

Several minutes later, Maxie came back out. "I just told them I saw a wounded trainer in the woods just now. They're going to radio for someone to go look for him, okay?"

May just nodded, bowing slightly. "You don't have to do this."

"You're right, I don't. I just want to make sure you're safe. Now let's go get you some clothes and food."

She held her hands up in protest. "Please, you can't-"

"I very well can and I will," Maxie insisted, looking at her sharply. He led her down to the Pokémon store where they looked around to find some basic clothes for her to switch into. After they found a simple t-shirt and jeans, he led her around to pick up food for the both of them, paid and left. He pushed her over to the nearest ladder into the network of trees above them, goading her to go up first while he followed behind.

When they reached the top, they walked around looking for a place to stay until he saw a small hut that had a little sign that said it was vacant. Maxie walked in, talking to a chubby, mouse-haired attendant that sat in a chair behind a counter. He quickly arranged a room, taking keys from the attendant and walking across what seemed to just be a small house. He unlocked the door and led May in.

He walked in behind her and closed the door, locking it. It was a small room, maybe eight feet by eight feet in all. There was a small double sized bed in the middle, an armchair in the corner, two bed stands, and a dresser with an old TV on top.

Maxie turned to May. "We'll rest for tonight and I'll take you to the base in the morning. Here, let me take the jacket." He grabbed one collar of his jacket as she slipped it off, handing her the bag of clothes he had purchased.

"Thanks, I'm going to go try to get all this blood off." May said, taking the bag and sliding into the doorway directly right of the door they came in at.

Maxie sat down in the armchair, crossing his arms and leaning back. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with this girl, so he thought it over. He could bring her back, but he's going to have to answer to the rest of the team for what she'll do in the meantime. He could find the boy and have someone take him out. What was he getting himself into?

Idle thoughts set to wander as he listened to May in the shower. Head resting on the back of the chair, he pulled the jacket over himself, thinking about what few details he knew about May. He wanted to protect her, though he knew she wasn't weak, per se. He just wanted to make sure she was safe. That was fine, right? To want to care for someone's well-being.

Courtney kept poking fun at him for talking about it. It wasn't as if he was interested in her, though her shy nature was very endearing to him. He just considered that, though. He felt that he was too old for her, but realistically, how old was she? She was older than school age, clearly. So what was their age gap? Ten, fifteen years? That was still pretty steep. He thought about how sheepish May was, grinning at the mental image of her and her insistent bowing. She was rather cute...

Maxie kept thinking about her until he drifted off, head lolling to one side and his glasses going askew. May had come out of the shower, dressed in the new clothes and free of blood to see him sleeping there. She watched for a moment before quietly sneaking over to him, easing the glasses off and setting them on the dresser beside him.

May sat on the edge of the bed, fishing around in the bag for the food he had bought and eating it. She was so tired and, by now, ravenously hungry. The food was easy, just some almonds, cheese, and a bottle of water, but she scarfed it all down. Occasionally she glanced over at Maxie's sleeping figure in the chair. He started to snore lightly, May smiling to herself as she watched him sleep.

She thought about his motivation for helping her so much as she settled onto the bed, rolling herself into the fetal position and pulling the covers around her. Before she could think very much on the subject, the world went completely black from exhaustion...


	4. Safe With Me

It was dark. Pale light trickled in from through the blinds, illuminating the room enough to emphasize the shadows of where everything was. Maxie couldn't see much without his glasses, but knew enough that it wasn't morning yet so he rolled over on his side to go back to sleep, pulling the sheets over his shoulders to stay warm.

Moving sleepily, instinctively, he wrapped his arm around the lithe figure next to him, her body emitting the tiniest moan as she scooted back when he touched her to press against him. He stroked the side of her body with his fingertips idly as he snuggled close, burying his face in her hair. It smelled mildly like lavender and cream.

He held her close, moving slowly to press his lips against the base of her neck, kissing the skin there several times before opening his eyes. He looked over the light brown hair and the fair skinned body he held onto before his eyes snapped open in realization. "Oh my-"

Maxie was startled awake, breathing heavily through parched lips as the jacket slid off of him. Sitting in the armchair in the corner, he held his head to steady himself as the world was spinning. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he tried to get ahold of himself.

The light of the windows told him that the sun hadn't come all the way up, so it was still very early. In any case, he wasn't going back to sleep at this moment, so he decided that a shower might be in order to clear his mind.

Taking his time in the hot shower, he tried to shake the feeling he got whenever he had these feverish, haunting dreams. Lately that has been almost every day and, every time he had them, he would be stuck with the emotions of them for the rest of the day.

He got out of the shower and dried off, wiping down a section of the mirror to look at himself. He did look a little worse for the wear since he wasn't getting enough sleep at night. "This has to stop," he whispered, as he inspected himself in the mirror. Cleaning up, he got dressed and quietly looked around the room for his glasses to put them on. Everything was slowly becoming light, and May still slept soundly in the bed.

Maxie decided it was best to let her sleep and took the key to the room, locking it as he left. He went in search of food for the time being.

The treetop city was quite a marvel. All the buildings were connected via wooden bridges and railings, but it was a veritable maze. He wandered around looking for any place that might be open at this time to get a meal. Eventually he was able to find a small cafe in the trees, overlooking the Fortree City gym. He sat down at one of the tables, ordering an omelette and tea from the waitress that came by, then pulling out his PokéNav to see if there was any sighting of the trainer Brendan in the news while he waited.

He sat, watching the screen, skimming over the news ticker for anything to tip him off. The waitress came back over with the drink, and then later with the food, but even by that time he hadn't seen anything.

Maxie closed the PokéNav after the food came to the table. Were it up to him, he would have left the boy to his death, feeling he didn't deserve the air he breathed due to his deplorable actions. He sighed to himself as he dug into the food, "I'm probably just biased," he said to no one in particular.

The waitress stopped at his table, a waif-like girl with cream colored hair. "I'm sorry, what was that?" she spoke to him.

Maxie looked up at her, tea cup in hand. It took him a second to realize he spoke out loud and held up his hand in apology, smiling. "I apologize, I was just speaking to myself."

She smiled, "Well, is there anything I can get for you?"

"Actually, yes," he nodded at her. I need to get an order for take out as well." He looked over the menus, a little despairing at the fact that he wasn't sure what May liked to eat. Trying for the easiest option, he just ordered her a simple meal of eggs, meat and toast.

"I'll bring that right out for you," she confirmed.

Maxie finished eating and paid his bill, taking the food back to where they were staying. It took some time again to navigate the city, even though he had just come this way. It was already getting late in the morning when he arrived back, unlocking the door quietly. He peeked in, May still yet asleep.

She must have been terribly exhausted with how long she had been sleeping. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he watched for a few moments. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically as she slept, breathingly deeply each time. Her arms, face, and neck were all above the covers and she looked battered, but peaceful. The bruises along her neck and face were already a purple and yellow color, something that made him inexplicably angry.

He called out to her softly, "May… May, wake up…" Before getting louder, "Maayy, wake up, we should get going soon." When neither of those worked, he reached over cautiously, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently. "May, you should wake up now."

May's eyes fluttered open. She blinked a few times very tiredly, breathing deeply and yawning before emitting any response. "What? What's going on?"

"May, we should leave soon," Maxie said, leaning on the bed.

Her eyes opened wider, trying to think of what was happening. She made a brief recounting of all the things that went on yesterday. Setting up the camp, being attacked by Brendan, being taken in by Maxie and brought here. May worried, her head was throbbing and her whole body was sore. She clutched at the side of her face where the bruises were, patting the skin there gently as she sat up in bed.

"Where are we going now?" she asked Maxie.

"I'm going to take you back to Team Magma. At least for a little while, is that okay for you?" Maxie told her, studying her intently.

May frowned. She wanted to go home… She just wanted to hide away from the world now. How was she going to face her parents? What about the Pokémon League?

"Is that okay, May?" he asked again when she didn't answer.

She looked forlornly at him, one side of her mouth tilting downward dissatisfied. "What am I going to do about my badges? Could we get the Fortree badge while we're here?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Are you sure? You might run into the other trainers if you go now. We could always come back at any time, say in a few days."

May scowled, scrunching her thin eyebrows together. That's not what she wanted, none of the things that happened to her were things she wanted, though. "What about my parents? They should at least know where I am."

Maxie scratched his head. He wouldn't be able to look up her parents, all he could do is possibly bring her to them…

"We'll go to them. I'll fly you to them."

"Hmm." May looked up at him, meeting his dark eyes. There was a strange look there. Over all he looked very tired and sad. It took about half a minute of thought before she said anything further, just sitting in silence with Maxie as she mulled over things, occasionally glancing at him as she thought. "I need to tell them what happened, in case anything comes up. I don't think I can stay there, because they live so close to Professor Birch. Maybe my dad can explain things to him…"

"Professor Birch is?" Maxie questioned.

May bowed her head slightly, "Aah, I'm sorry. He's Brendan's father and our Pokémon professor."

Maxie nodded, his expression pensive, "Perhaps he can help in some way." After a moment of consideration, he remembered the bag in his hand. "Oh! I got you breakfast. You should eat and we should probably get going."

She looked very grateful for a moment, bowing enthusiastically to him as she took the bag. "Thank you so much. I'm… really, really hungry."

He tousled her hair a little, smiling, "It's no problem. I have you make sure your strength is up for traveling."

May tore into the food, opening the box and taking large bites very unflatteringly. Between a mouthfuls of food, she cleared her throat, "You don't have to make sure of anything for me."

Maxie wasn't going to argue with her, he just gave her the slightest smirk before standing. "I'll be outside, okay?" he said as he walked out of the room.

May sat in the silence, wolfing down the food. She wondered as she sat what was going to happen to her. What she did to Brendan was no small worried; What if she was arrested? What if her father got a bad name because of her? What if Professor Birch cut her off from getting through the Pokémon League before he got there? After she was all done eating, she sat for a long while thinking about all of this, pulling the blanket around her as she tried to steady her breathing.

She was all nerves. She clenched her jaw, thinking about all the worst scenarios in her head as she was paralyzed with fear about what happened. For some time, she just sat on the bed, curled up with her knees hugged to her chest as tears rolled down her face.

The door quietly opened as Maxie peeked his head back into the room. "Is everything okay?" His expression dropped as he saw May curled up on the bed sniffing and he went over to sit next to her.

Hesitantly, Maxie put an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, everything is going to be okay. We're going to fix things, alright?" He gently squeezed her shoulder, trying to do what he could to comfort her, but she wouldn't respond.

May couldn't figure out what to say through her anxiety, like she had forgotten how to speak. She only sniffed and sobbed, face buried in her arms.

"May, I'm going to help you." She occasionally squeaked, but that seemed like the best noise she could manage. He didn't know what to do to console her.

Turning, he scooted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm going to be here, May. We can go see your parents and everything is going to work itself out. We'll let people know what Brendan did, you're going to be fine. Look at me."

May looked up from her arms, eyes red as she sniffed again. Maxie gazed intently at her, brushing her hair back as he spoke. "Take some deep breaths, come on."

She tried to oblige, taking deep, sobbing breaths. After a few of them, she started to feel a little better, a little more in control, but didn't feel like she could speak yet.

"It's going to be okay," Maxie repeated, trying to be steady for her. He touched his forehead to hers as he spoke, trying to get her to focus on him. "Where do your parents live, May?"

The question flipped a switch in May's head almost instantly. "In Littleroot."

He continued, "How long have they been there?"

May shook her head , "Not very long. We moved here just before I became a trainer."

"Do your parents know Professor Birch?" Maxie kept questioning. Each question he asked seemed to bring her back around more.

She nodded slightly, "Yeah… Professor Birch and my dad have been friends since they were kids."

"I'm sure he will understand, then." Maxie sat back, giving May some space. "Are you okay?"

She sniffed again, breathing deep. "I… I think I'll be fine." She nodded at him, "Thank you."

Maxie reached over and squeezed her shoulder again. She had gotten lost in her own head for a while there, he looked relieved to get her back in the real world. "I'm happy to help." He stood up, offering her a hand. "Are you ready to go?"

May nodded, taking his hand and standing up. For the briefest moment, Maxie squeezed it before letting go.

Maxie returned the keys to the person at the desk, giving him a small amount of money to pay the room. They both left, walking down the creaky wooden walkways to the nearest ladder.

As they arrived at a clear spot of ground, Maxie pulled one of the Pokéballs from his jacket and called on Golbat. It was a strange balance to ride Golbat places, and this would be even stranger, but it would have to work. He ushered May to sit over one side of the Golbat as he climbed up on the leaning Pokémon.

Maxie maneuvered around May, sitting behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist. "I, ah, I apologize."

May's face turned bright pink as she was pulled close, secured for the ride. So close, why did they have to be so close? As if she weren't tense enough, she'd never ridden a flying Pokémon before.

Maxie rigidly ordered Golbat on, directing the Pokémon toward the southwest to Littleroot. They rode for quite some time, but didn't speak much through the wind of the flying. May just intent on watching the passing Hoenn scenery.

As they arrived and Maxie ordered Golbat to spiral down toward the small village, May braced herself for the landing as the Golbat slowed its wing beats, coming to the ground on a run as it bounced its riders.

Maxie patted the Golbat on the top of its head, calling it back to its Pokéball. May pointed in the direction they needed to head to see her parents, though she was sure her dad would probably be in Petalburg right now.

They walked through the small gathering of houses to hers and she opened the wooden front door, peeking in to see her mother and father sitting on the couch. She stepped in the doorway, closing it after Maxie was in the doorway. "Mom, dad," they looked up, worry in their eyes as they stood to hurry over to her.

May hugged both of them tightly, trying not to let the tears that sprang to her eyes get the best of her. Her mother spoke, "Honey, we heard something happened to Brendan from Professor Birch, we were so worried!"

Worriedly, May asked, "What did you hear?"

Norman frowned as he spoke, "He told us you attacked Brendan. What happened?"

May started to tug at the hem of the shirt she was wearing. "Dad, I know you gave me the knife to protect myself, I wouldn't have used it for anything else…"

"What is it?" He persisted.

"Brendan met up with me on my way to Fortree… He, um, he tried to force himself on me…" May looked like she was shrinking in on herself, scared of what they might think.

Her mother gasped, pulling her back close in an embrace. "Oh my gosh, sweetie, are you okay?"

Tears ran down May's face. She felt like she had done more crying than was possible in the last 24 hours. "I… Dad gave me his pocket knife in case something happened, we… We went to set up camp and I went for a walk to call Maxie because I was scared and… and Brendan came up and… Oh my god, mom." May sobbed. Maxie reached out to put a hand on May's shoulder.

At the mention of Maxie, Norman looked over at the red-haired man, looking him over and glancing leerily at the Magma logo on his jacket. "Were you nearby when this happened?"

Maxie wasn't exactly sure what to say without making it seem questionable, because he wasn't nearby at all. Instead, he lied. "Yes, I was in Fortree at the time. I told May to call me if she was ever suspicious of danger... since this has happened before."

May put her hands up to her cheeks and withdrew a little at the mention.

Her father looked angry. "Brendan is the trainer you were talking about? Why didn't you tell me? Caroline, did she tell you?"

May's mother shook her head. "This is the first I've heard of it. Honey, why didn't you tell us?"

"Mom, I didn't want to worry you," May squeaked from behind her hands. "I'm fine, though. Really I am."

Norman scowled. "I'm going to talk to Oda about this."

"Dad, please, I don't want everyone to know…" May pleaded with him.

"May, I'm going to do as I need to. Oda and I have been friends for so long, I'm sure he will understand if I explain things to him."

May nodded. Maybe they would be able to talk sense and get things straightened out.

Caroline looked at May, touching the side of her face. "What are you going to do right now?"

She looked at her mom and thought for a second before talking. "I think I'm going to go with Maxie. I need to go somewhere safe where I won't run into Brendan for a while."

Her mother nodded but frowned. "Why don't you come back home?"

"Mom, Brendan and Professor Birch live right over there! I could see them at any time, what if Brendan comes home?" May tried to reason.

Norman and Caroline looked Maxie over again. He was protective of his child, he worried about this man. "Where is it you're going?"

Maxie piped in, matter-of-factly, "My office headquarters. There are living spaces there where my team trains."

Hesitating, Maxie added, "I want to guarantee May's safety." He pulled one of the cards out of his coat, offering it to Norman. "I think May lost her PokéNav, but you can call me if you need anything."

Caroline looked back at May, "What happened to your PokéNav?"

"I left everything when Brendan attacked me… I lost all my supplies, and Brendan threw my PokéNav in the river," May explained.

May's mother cursed under to breath, putting a hand to cover her mouth. "Will you at least stay and have lunch with us? He's welcome to stay."

Maxie looked uncomfortable about that offer, visibly rigid. He went to put up a hand and decline, but May spoke before he could, "Thank you, mom, I'd like that."

May's mother smiled, "I'll get started on lunch, then. What would you like?"

Maxie piped up before she could answer, "We should go soon, otherwise we'll end up flying in the dark."

"So something easy, if that's okay," May answered.

"I'll make some sandwiches, then. You two just sit down."

May led Maxie over to the couch to sit down, noting, "I'm going to run upstairs and get some things to bring with me."

He nodded at her as she hopped up the stairs, sitting down on the green couch and folding his hands in his lap. He looked around the modest house as he considered what to talk about. It was definitely awkward sitting in this girl's house with her parents.

Norman paced around the house and Caroline worked in the kitchen. Maxie expected that he had questions. Norman eventually settled with sitting in the chair across from Maxie.

"I'm going to talk to Odamaki about what happened. You said this happened before? How did you get involved?" Norman asked. He was very direct.

Maxie felt apprehensive, but didn't show it. "I and my assistants were in Rustboro at the time. We heard someone shouting nearby when we went to look and that trainer seemed to be trying to have his way with your daughter. Thankfully I was able to break things up."

Norman's expression was long as he considered Maxie's words. "What is she going to do at your office or wherever it is?"

"We have training facilities there. My team are constantly working on research and Pokémon training and we have living facilities on site," Maxie answered. It seemed as if he had a textbook answer for everything, so precise. He added, "I'm sure when things die down May will be able to return to working on the Pokémon League."

May's father nodded, accepting those explanations. "I'm going to do what I can from here. I don't know what we're going to do with Brendan."

Maxie nodded. "It is indeed a predicament."

Thumping could be heard as May came back downstairs, bag over her arm stuffed full of clothes, top of it all was a tiny Mudkip doll poking out. She wandered over to the kitchen to her mother.

"Anything I can do to help, mom?" May said, peering over her mother's shoulder.

Caroline, shook her head. "Not really. I guess you could start setting the plates out, sweetie."

May did that, setting up the table for everyone to eat. She felt guilty for Maxie, since he had to shoulder the burden of all the questions her parents were asking. Maxie did his best to seem impartial and steel-faced throughout the ordeal.

After they finished up eating, May's mom and dad mobbed her, tightly hugging her, "Call us. Be safe."

"I will mom, I love you," She told them, getting a little teary eyed.

Caroline's gaze shot over to Maxie, who stood somewhat awkwardly against a wall. "Please, take care of her?"

Maxie held his hands up, his face looking slightly flushed, "I know she can take care of herself, but I'll do everything I can to keep her safe."

They bid each other a farewell, leaving the house. Maxie calling the Golbat in the afternoon sunlight. It was even more awkward to get on the Golbat than before with the bag that May had with her. After May settled on the Golbat, Maxie looked more flustered than before trying to settle himself on the Pokémon. He wrapped an arm around May, pulling her securely against him with the bag in her arms as he commanded the Golbat to fly toward the Team Magma headquarters.


	5. If You, Could You? Would You?

It took several hours, but as they went to land, the mouth of the cave approached quickly. Golbat deftly flew in, flapping its way to slow down, and touching its feet to skim the water beneath it. Maxie commanded the Pokémon and it landed, running along a long hallway and coming to a stop. As he hopped off, he walked around the side of the Pokémon, holding a hand up to take May's bag, then offering his other hand to assist her down.

May got off the Golbat, taking the bag back from him as she walked around the hallway in awe. This entrance was a huge cave mouth, extending back a very long ways. It was lit up from one end to the other, but it was no less a massive encounter. Maxie called back his Pokémon and led her on.

"This is the Team Magma headquarters?" May asked, looking all around.

Maxie nodded, responding, "It used to be an old volcano but it hasn't been active for thousands of years." He turned, looking at May to explain with his hands. "You see, volcanoes move over time under the plates in the earth, so land mass is formed when magma is pushed out of the crust. Eventually enough of it forms that it creates a mountain or volcano, and it cools and hardens, so the magma has to find another way out and pops up somewhere else. And that's how land is made!" Maxie was undoubtedly smiling unabashedly at being able to explain this to May.

May watched him as he explained this, smiling in kind. She honestly didn't know all that much about sciences, since she didn't pay much attention to things in school. However, she was quite amused at his facial expressions as he spoke about the subject. When she didn't say much, Maxie scratched his head guiltily. "Heh, I know it's not interesting."

"I think it is," May said, nodding. "I just don't know much about it."

Maxie led her down through the base, giving her a tour of where everything was level by level. "The top floor is where you'll find all of the living quarters and kitchens. If there's anything you need or if we need to order something you can let me or the admins know." He pointed to the other side of the hall as they walked down. "On the other side are some research rooms and work places. Until you get a new PokéNav, feel free to use anything in the work rooms."

May looked around, still taking everything in. There was so much to these headquarters, how did they build all of this? "This place is huge. Do you stay here, too?"

Maxie nodded as they made their way to the next floor down. "Yes, I stay on the third sub-floor, in case you have any need of me." He motioned to the next floor they walked through. Everything was gray and lined with red here with not a whole lot of lighting. "This floor has labs and conference rooms. I'll likely spend much of my time here or in my office."

As the worked their way down the base, they reached the third floor. "Here we have training facilities. If you need to train your Pokémon, feel free to do so here. Other Team Magma members will be here if you want to train with other trainers. It's also a good place to work out, if you like." He pointed down the hall to the end. "Down there is where me and my assistants stay. Last door on the left is my quarters. Courtney and Tabitha stay in the rooms on the right."

At this point, everything seemed eerily quiet, since no one was really around or in the hallways. May assumed that there were other members that stayed here than just the three Team Magma members, but nothing hide nor hair could be seen of anyone.

They continued past several rooms and down another flight of stairs, reaching a small landing. "And here is my office." Maxie led May down the red and gray hall, this area being much more well lit than the other hallways and lined with thick red carpeting. As they turned around a dividing wall into a lobby space where Courtney and Tabitha were sitting playing board games. Maxie took on his severe expression, glaring down both of them as he spoke, "I see we're getting a lot done at the hideout today, guys."

Courtney, picking up one of the pieces off of the board to move, looked out of the corner of her eye at him. Most of her face and expression was still shielded by hair, but she looked indolently at him. "Look who's back, Mr. why-isn't-there-work-being-done." Her head tottered as she said each word.

Tabitha looked over at Maxie as he approached. "We were wondering where you went. Since there was no instruction we thought we'd tell everyone in the base to take an administrative day off, you know? They could use a break."

May had moved some paces behind Maxie, trying to keep her head down as they talked, however when Courtney noticed her, the Magma uniform-clad girl stood up and hopped over, taking May's hands as she greeted her. "Well, hello! Is this is why our dear Maxie was gone for so long?"

May shook her head in protest. "I didn't mean, um, I'm sorry for distracting him."

"No! Please, you're welcome here." Courtney insisted to her.

Maxie, from several feet away, was making a rather flabbergasted expression, not knowing what to think of the interaction Courtney was having with May. With one hand he pushed up his glasses, scowling.

"So, boss, we called you a couple times to see what was up, you had us so worried!" Courtney looked so melodramatic, violet hair falling over her eyes. Tabitha was smiling from one of the red chairs where they were playing games.

Maxie cleared his throat, "I was flying, you have bad timing."

"You also could've given us a heads up that you were bringing this doll with you!" Courtney put an arm around the blushing May's shoulders. May looked over at Maxie uncomfortably and smiling meekly.

"It didn't concern you at the time," he replied. Maxie crossed the lobby, making his way over to the other doorway and disappearing around the frosted glass.

Tabitha was leaning back in the chair, watching Courtney inspect May. She was picking apart her hair and looking over her, "What is with all these bruises, hon? Are you okay? Maxie, have you hurt this poor girl?"

Maxie came back into the room a couple moments later holding some papers. "Courtney, stop."

Courtney frowned, crossing her arms, "Well, aren't you a grumpy Gogoat today."

May bowed to Courtney, "It's a long story, ma'am."

"Well, I'm here all the time, so feel free if you want someone to talk to, okay?" as Courtney patted May's shoulder.

"I'm sure miss May could use some rest after all the excitement that has been happening. I'm going to take her up to the living quarters." Maxie told them, "Come along," he beckoned to May.

May obliged, bowing again to Tabitha and Courtney. "Thank you both, I'll try to stay out of the way."

Courtney walked over and slumped in the seat next to Tabitha and could be heard talking as they walked out. "Man, I wonder what's up with him."

Maxie kept a neutral face as he led May up the stairs again. She was perplexed by the fact that he had been so seemingly uncharacteristically cheerful before he came down to his office. He had shown her nothing but care and kindness.

As they walked up the stairs, May asked very quietly. "Is everything okay? Did Courtney do something?"

Maxie shook his head, "No, I apologize. They can get unruly at times, that's all."

"She's really nice. They both are, her and Tabitha." May's eyes were cast down as she walked, focusing on the floor.

"They are very helpful, generally. She has been particularly intrusive lately, such as just before I left to get you." Maxie explained.

"Maybe she's worried about you?" May glanced up at him. She studied his features for a couple seconds, trying to read his expression. He looked very tired, a ring of gray around his eyes.

Maxie shook his head, "I'm sure she is, but I just prefer if she kept to herself sometimes. She doesn't need to know everything."

May smiled just slightly. Maxie was wearing a slightly annoyed expression and it entertained May to think of how protective and secretive he's been about her. He must not have told them where he was heading when she was attacked or what he intended to do.

After a couple moments of walking in silence, Maxie glanced over at May, suddenly a quizzical look on his face. "What?"

May looked away, trying her best to force herself not to smile. "Oh, nothing, I'm sorry."

They climbed a couple more flights of stairs to the first landing in silence when May spoke up again. "Thank you for letting me stay. Thank you for everything."

Maxie turned to her, running a hand over his hair to push it back, "You don't have to thank me."

May cast her eyes back down. She'd felt guilty for all that he'd gone through for her already.

"What's wrong?" He asked, putting a finger under to chin to lift her head up.

"N-nothing. I just know you've gone through an awful lot for me… you've spent a lot of money for me already, too." She thought back to the food, the room and the clothes. No stranger would typically do all of that, not unless they expected something.

"I just… I care, May." A troubled look flashed across his face, which he took to change the subject immediately. "Alright, so here are the rooms. At the end of the hallway is the team kitchen. Please, help yourself to anything."

May nodded. They walked down the hall of rooms and Maxie opened one of the doors for her. "You can have this room if it's up to your liking."

"I'd love it, thank you." She replied, looking around the simple room. It was like a small hotel room, but nicer. Red rug over light gray tiles, dark gray bedside tables, there was a black dresser with a cabinet at the foot of a queen sized bed, and there was even a small bathroom attached.

Maxie stood in the doorway, watching May inspect the room. When she put her bag down on the bed, she turned to him and bowed again. "Thank you. I guess I'll have to figure out what to do now."

"The whole base is open to you, dear. If you want to find me for any reason, I'll be in the work rooms down the hall, so I won't be far," Maxie explained to her. For some reason, May thought he looked forlorn. "I will leave you to rest now, though. Have a good evening, May." He nodded to her quickly before heading back down the corridor of rooms.

May listened as his steps made a light echoing sound and disappeared in the distance. She sat on the bed, rather disappointed now because she was alone and she rather enjoyed having his company the for the past day. She would have to figure out what to do to occupy her time while she stayed here. For the time being, May started pulling the things out of her bag, laying the tiny Mudkip doll on her new bed and putting away all her clothes.

She walked over to the other side of the room and closed the door, moving back to lay down on the bed. She just sat and thought about the things that had happened over the past couple of days, and it just seemed like too much to take in. She tried to balance all the sadness she'd felt with happy thoughts about her Pokémon and about Maxie and how thankful she was for him.

May laid like this for a while before drifting off to sleep, thinking and thinking to herself.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the hall, Maxie had stood outside the work rooms. His arms crossed tightly over his chest as he thought. His brow was furrowed in frustration with himself right now, mostly because he didn't understand why he felt this way. Maybe it was just all the contact he'd had over the past couple days where, typically, he would keep to himself. It seemed as though the upset to his schedule put all his emotions in turmoil.

_The tides were high today, rising faster and faster. Maxie wasn't sure what to do. He'd been stranded on a lone rock during his battle with Archie, but Archie was nowhere to be found, now. Swept up by Team Aqua, he left Maxie here in the middle of the sea. Maxie was huddling with Camerupt as the tides rose and Maxie wondered what he could do to get out of this._

_Worriedly, Maxie reached over and stroked Camerupt's head, trying to console the Pokémon. He murmured to it comfortingly, "Everything's going to be okay." The Camerupt nuzzled his waist, pushing Maxie slightly with his force._

_It had only been a few minutes, but it seemed like the sea was about to overtake them. Maxie balanced precariously on the tip top of the rocks, while Camerupt sat only slightly below him on the rocks. The water was nipping at Camerupts feet when Maxie was pushed over by a huge wave, thrusting him to the other side of the tiny rocky platform and shoving his face into the side of a rock, bending his glasses. As Maxie struggled to get up and straighten his glasses so he could see, Camerupt's cry could be heard from the other side._

_Gasping, Maxie ran over to the edge of the rocks, seeing Camerupt as the fire Pokémon struggled in the water. Maxie held out his arms out, but he was several feet too far away. He cursed, shouting "Come over here! Come on!" as Camerupt drifted further away._

_It was hard already for the Pokémon to stay afloat due to its sheer size and density, and the tides were swiftly sweeping it away. Too fast for Maxie to understand, Camerupt was swept out of sight and was gone as he cried out for the Pokémon._

"No!" Maxie shouted, already covered in a cold sweat as he sprang up from his bed. He sat in the dark for a few minutes trying to understand why he would have a dream like that or what it could me, before letting himself flop back on the the bed and frustratedly try to go back to sleep.

_He was walking in the forest alongside May. It was cool outside today with all the overcast weather. He saw her smile as she described her favorite ice cream and discussed caramel brownies. Maxie only smiled._

"_What kind of desserts do you like?" She asked, turning to look at him._

"_Well, I really enjoy coffee cakes, danishes, occasionally I like-" Maxie was cut off as they heard a commotion coming from behind them. Maxie twirled around to look, the noise of someone shouting as they approached, but was too slow to catch what was going on before it was too late._

_A blur of black and red sped past him, and though Maxie tried to follow the disturbance, it seemed as if the world moved too quickly for him, as if he was walking through molasses. When Maxie caught up to whatever had come at them, May was watching him with a blank look on her face, falling to the ground clutching her stomach as red spilled down her shorts and legs._

_Maxie sped back up, ambling as fast as he could toward the person that hit her, grabbing the back of their shirt. He realized it was the trainer Brendan, his confusion and distress quickly turning to anger as he bore down on the boy, fist connecting with Brendan's ribs. When the trainer lay on the ground, Maxie sped back over to May, rushing to turn her body over onto her back._

_He knelt beside her, looking on in horror as she continued to bleed, hands still clutching at her lower abdomen. Maxie cried, putting a hand to her stomach where the wound appeared to be, shouting,_

"May!" Maxie started awake again, shaking as he stared into the darkness of his room. _It was just a dream_, he told himself. _May is fine._

He lay there for a while, thinking over and over about what happened in the dream or about how he could have protected her. First of all, he shouldn't be having dreams about May, that's just ridiculous. Secondly, why were they getting worse?

Maxie drifted off to sleep again.

_He sat at table in a dimly lit cafe on an old street, dressed in a red button-up shirt and black slacks. He had dressed up tonight. He looked at the ironwork table as he studied the objects there, just a purse and some keys._

_A woman came to sit down, dressed in a beautiful red and black dress with a tulle and silk skirt, brown hair curled and styled around her fair face._

_Maxie was a little surprised. "May, you're stunning," he said, smiling._

_May blushed at him, bowing her head slightly, her curls bouncing as she made the motion. "Thank you…"_

_They sat and talked there for quite some time, ordering wine, salad, and sandwiches and just talking about anything and everything. They ordered dessert paired with champagne, just drinking and laughing._

_Through the evening, they decided this was a good time to call things and head home before it was too late. May and Maxie both stood and Maxie offered to walk her home. May accepted his offer hesitantly as they walked, Maxie locking arms with her while they walked together. They stopped at a small house with a sloping roof. Maxie pulled her close into an embrace, but when he drew back, May looked uncomfortable, her eyes shifting as she looked around her._

"_I'm sorry, Maxie," she told him._

_He looked thoroughly confused. "What do you mean?"_

_She held her arms across her chest. "You're really nice, It's just… look, I don't think I can see you. As nice as you are, you're not a very honorable person and I don't think I can handle that. If you cleaned up your act and maybe acted like a human being I might think of you like that."_

_He went to ask, "Wait, what are you saying?"_

Maxie opened his eyes. He just laid there. Not moving, not making any noises this time. He simply didn't understand and, at this point, he didn't think he could handle the torment of going back to sleep. He got up and started getting dressed, drinking some tea, and getting some work would get his mind off of the stressful imagery of his dreams.

May woke up, looking around as she tried to make things out in the dark room. She squinted and tried to think about whether or not it was till the middle of the night, but after a moment remembered that she was under ground. May leaned over to the night stand and turned on the lamp that was there, shedding light onto the modest bedroom she was granted. She laid there for a while, allowing herself to observe all the details of the room and think about what she was going to do today.

She slid to the edge of the bed, everything still a little blurry as she woke up and rubbed her eyes drowsily. Standing and shuffling over to find clothing to wear, she settled on her usual shorts and tank top.

May looked left and right down the hall as she exited her room and closed the door quietly. She could see people wandering around in the direction of the kitchen, walking that way to discover what kind of food they had here. As she walked in, there were several Team Magma members in uniforms and one in shorts and a tropical shirt relaxing on a couch. In some capacity or another they all looked towards her when she walked in, but no one immediately talked to her as she walked around the kitchen, inspecting the contents of the refrigerators and cabinets.

One of the uniformed members noticed she was looking around and called over from one of the tables, "Hey, are you looking for something? People usually ask for directions when they're lost, you know!"

May looked over at the person. He was a sprightly looking guy with messy, mousy brown hair peeking out from under his red Magma hood. May smiled and bowed slightly at him, "I'm just looking around, thank you."

"Are you new here? What's your name?" He asked her, reclining back in the shiny red plastic chair.

She nodded, "May. I'm just staying here for a little while."

"Oh, you're not a new hire? Who are you here with?" He took this time to stand up and mosey over to her, holding his hand out. May shook it politely. "It's nice to meet you, May, I'm Aidan "

May bowed slightly again, "Thank you, it's nice to meet you, Aidan. Umm..." She took a moment to think about what to say. She didn't want to give away all the details of why she was here to people. "I came here with Maxie to get away, I guess."

A couple of surprised reactions rang around the table he was previously sitting at. Aidan smiled cheekily, "Whaaaat! I didn't know the boss had a girlfriend!"

"I- I mean!" May's face turned bright red instantly, feeling hot, as she tugged at the hem of her shirt. Her heart was suddenly pounding nervously, "That is _so_ not what I said!"

Aidan threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Relax, I'm just messing with you. So if you're just staying for a while, what are you gonna do here?"

May bit her lip. "Well, I'd like to continue training. I've been working on the Pokémon League badges for a while. I guess I'm sort of taking a leave from the League right now."

A girl at the table with long black hair piped in, "I'm training, too! We can train together!"

"Same, same," said another grunt clad in red and black.

That prospect excited May, people willing to train with her! "I think I'd like to get some food and then go down to the training area. I just don't know what kind of food is here? I got here last night…" May said, looking around the room.

"Well, let's fix that, then!" Aidan showed her around to where everything was in the kitchen and she got herself some fruit for breakfast. She talked briefly with the other trainers that were sitting at the table before they decided to all walk together and head downstairs to start training.

When May got to the training facilities, she was actually rather surprised. It was like one of the really nice gyms, it was so big! There were Pokémon training arenas, workout areas, even a section for grooming. There were already several trainers here in the arenas, battling their Pokémon in teams.

She didn't know where to start! It was all so exciting. After some time of looking around, she settled on working with her Pokémon to get their attack and speed statistics up, and maybe even lift some weights herself so she can be stronger.

She had to have been doing this for several hours, as the facility started to empty for a little while. May wondered where everyone had gone off to, but realized the reason why. Her stomach eventually grumbled and she decided it was time to call back her Pokémon and go get some lunch.

May made her way back upstairs to the kitchen to figure out what to eat for lunch to find out someone had made everyone lunch. Large dishes of salad, meat and sides lay out on the counter. She took a plate and helped herself, sitting at one of the tables in the far corner by herself, not even sighting the trainers she had seen earlier. As she ate, she wondered how Maxie was doing since she hadn't even seen a passing glance of him since she woke up.

Finishing the food and cleaning up the plate, she went downstairs again. The training arenas were even busier in the afternoon. May figured Pokémon training was a hobby for most people, seeing so many people engaged in training was a lot of fun. Since the arenas were full right now, May decided working out herself was in order, feeling that being stronger would aid her in any skirmishes with people that might come her way. She worked until she was tired, and then headed back up to her room to take a shower, knowing post-workout wouldn't be pleasant, and then went to get dinner.

She found that someone had again made food for dinner. May wondered who it was that cooked for everyone, they must employ a company chef!

After she had finished eating, May walked back down the stairs, wandering past the training facility to the last landing where Maxie's office was. She crept around the glass walls and peeked into his office, but his desk was empty. May wondered what Courtney and Tabitha did here, too, seeing as she hadn't seen them, either. She traveled down the hall on the next floor up to the end of the hall. The door Maxie said was his was closed, but she knocked lightly a few times. When there was no answer, she made her way up to the second floor and poked around the labs.

He was sitting at a work station with several racks of Pokéballs next to him, typing away at a computer there. May walked over and sat down in one of the chairs at the table near him.

He looked very serious, face appearing to be set in a constant scowl. as he tapped away at the keyboard. May spoke, "Hey, how's it going?" and Maxie's eyes quickly darted over to her. He turned, a gentler expression spreading across his face.

Maxie took his glasses off, rubbing his eyes for a moment. "Hey, May, what are you doing here?" He put his glasses back on.

May smiled at him, though she noted he always looked so tired, gray ringing his eyes. "I was just wandering around. I hadn't seen you all day so I was worried."

Maxie smiled. Worried? "I'm fine, just working. There were a number of things I let go by the wayside when I left. So, what have you been up to today?"

"I've been training my Pokémon, but I realized it's late, so I just had dinner." May explained, spinning back and forth on the stool she sat on. "Are there any books in here?"

"Well, we don't specifically have a library, but I do have a lot of books in my quarters, if you'd like to borrow them."

She grinned, "I'd love to look at them."

"Then we shall go look, my dear." Maxie stood from the chair, pushing up his glasses and putting a hand on May's back as he guided her out of the lab and downstairs.

They reached his room, and he grabbed the silver handle of the door, swinging it open and showing May in, walking in behind her. His rooms had several parts, complete with a small private study. There were a handful of bookshelves here with all kinds of different books housed on them, a steel desk sitting in the corner of the room. May looked around, seeing the bedroom and rather large bathroom. Everything was red, gray, black, red, gray, black, save for the bathroom. He kept things really clean in here.

"Feel free to help yourself. I'm not sure what you enjoy reading, but you're welcome to whatever I have, whenever you like." Maxie told her.

She looked at him, bowing. "Thank you, I promise I won't intrude."

"Don't worry about it," he told her. He urged her into the study. "Now go on, go ahead and look around. I'm going to get back to my work, so take your time." With that, Maxie turned and left May standing in his study.

May stood there perplexed for a moment. To say she was curious about how he lived was an understatement, but she didn't show it through her constant politeness. When she no longer heard his footsteps, she cautiously looked around his study not just at his books, but all the trinkets and paintings there. Between shelves there were these elegant paintings of Pokémon in their natural habitats, and on top of the shelves were the occasional artifact or statue. She looked at all of these, glancing back into the other room, his bedroom, looking at the things on his desk.

She saw a picture frame there. His desk was a little dusty, a film of it covering all the papers and pens on it, including the frame. In it housed a picture of a blonde haired girl, May guessed she was around her age. Frowning, May looked at it and wondered who it was with the sort of curious despondency that comes with envy. Deciding to continue on her search for books, she perused his collection.

May wasn't the biggest reader, but she loved books that were fantastical in nature. Stories about faraway lands and fierce heroes. She did see a book she thought was particularly intriguing about a girl with a magical sword that talked to her, so she settled on that and took it back upstairs, traipsing back to the lab she saw Maxie in.

There were a couple other people working around the lab, but didn't pay them much mind as she walked over and sat at the table Maxie was working at. He glanced over at her, "Did you know there are more comfortable places to read, right?"

Making the slightest snubbing motion, May replied, "I know," and she opened the book to start reading.

She read late into the night until she slumped tiredly on the stool, her arms and chest resting on the cold, black, stone countertop. She rested there, balancing the book in front of her until it eventually made a _clap_ and fell on the counter.

Maxie looked over when he heard the noise. May's eyes were closed, her head laying on her arms. _She must be tired_, he thought to himself. He glanced over at the computer screen, white numbers glowing in the corner that said "00:53", to which he hadn't realized how late it had gotten.

He stood up, walking over to May's slumped figure, resting a hand between her shoulder blades and leaning over. "May, you should go to bed," he murmured to her.

She opened her eyes to blink once or twice but closed them again.

He tried again, speaking louder. "May, come on, let's get you to bed."

No response.

Maxie frowned. This girl, how did she let herself get so tired? Resigning himself to get her to her room, he slipped his arms under her knees and tilted her back, picking her up. It seemed like he was doing this a lot.

His glasses slid down his nose but he had no way of pushing them back up while he carried May. He wobbled his way out of the lab and up the stairs, trying to take care not to knock May's head or feet against a banister or wall. He walked down the hallway of living quarters, sidling over to her door and struggling with one of his hands to open the door, trying to keep May's head resting on his shoulder and not squish her against the door frame. She let out a quiet groan while he worked at the doorknob.

When he finally got the door open, he carefully laid her down on the bed, looking her over. He gently brushed her hair away from her face, looking at the still-purple bruises. At this motion, she opened her eyes to blink a couple times again but closed them immediately.

Maxie sat down on the bed. He worried about her and what was going to happen to her. He wouldn't have admitted it, but he thought a lot about her, what she was going to do when she went back to getting her badges, what would happen to Brendan and whether or not he would be brought to justice. After she left here, just like that, she'd be gone. He just wish he could keep her safe. His chest tightened at the notion and decided he should probably get to bed himself.

He closed her door quietly and went downstairs to his room, settled in, and went to sleep.

The next several days carried on like this. May would wake up late every morning and get breakfast, train her Pokémon, get lunch, work out, take a shower, and then read a book while Maxie worked. It seemed like he never ate or got away from his work, but she also knew he woke up really early to start working, and just worked until late in the night.

Tonight wasn't much different. Maxie was plugging in data from tests he'd been doing in the lab, trying to recreate environmental scenarios. He'd been more conscious of the time as days went on, because May kept falling asleep on the counter. Right now, May was already resting on her arms, staring listlessly at the book in front of her. He wasn't sure why she insisted to stay so late and accompany him in the lab, but he welcomed her presence no less, even though they almost never talked.

Maxie glanced at the clock, pushing up his glasses. The white letters glowed "11:04" and he decided it would probably be a good time to usher her off to bed before she fell asleep and he had to carry her, yet again, back to her room.

"May," Maxie said flatly.

She shifted her head, looking up at him from under heavy lidded eyes. "Yes?"

"Go to bed," he told her pointedly.

"No," she told him pointedly.

"Before you fall asleep again."

"No."

"I'm not carrying you upstairs again."

"You can't make me."

Scowling and glaring at her, he reached down and picked her up, still book in hand. She made a squeak of surprise as he did so.

"I certainly can! Now come on, you need to get to sleep before you pass out in the lab again," Maxie told her.

May groaned a little, being roughly picked up like that, but she laughed sleepily at that and put her arms around Maxie's neck to steady awkward side to side motion as he walked.

Maxie met eyes with her to see she was staring up at him in her drowsy daze. "I can walk, you know."

"You can if you want," he said as he carried on.

May leaned her head sideways to rest on his shoulder, still looking at him. "I don't… This is nice."

Maxie's chest tightened, suddenly aware of everywhere that he came in contact with May, but tried his best not to think about it. As he approached her room, he deftly opened the door this time, having practiced for a few days, and walked in.

Instead of laying her down on the bed this time, he sat, May's arms still around his neck, sleepily resting on his shoulder. Maxie thought deeply for a couple long moments, to his surprise that May wasn't saying anything. He wondered if she had fallen asleep on him, but flicked his eyes towards her to see she was still looking at him, her eyes still half lidded. Uncomfortably close, too. His heart was pounding in that moment and he felt shaky, but tried not to show it.

May's eyes were a deep sky blue, he realized, that ranged from dark to light. For a moment, Maxie felt like he couldn't look away, just gazing into her eyes. She looked curiously at him, and he wasn't sure if she was just that tired. He set down her legs carefully, pulling his arm out from under her knees to bring his hand up to her face, brushing back stray hair behind her ear.

It seemed like minutes had passed, the time Maxie took to watch May and vice versa. One arm still holding May against his shoulder, he used his free arm to run his thumb gently along May's lips as she closed her eyes and let out the tiniest breath.

Before he knew it, before he let himself think any rational thought, Maxie pressed his lips to May's, resting there for what seemed like the longest moment, their noses touching, then delicately kissing her and drawing back before doing it again several more times. She was so warm...

May looked flabberghasted, her face completely red and she was definitely awake now. Maxie panicked internally.

He laughed awkwardly, scratching his head, "Ahaha, ahhh, I should let you get to bed. Sleep well, May." He scooted May off of him and slid her onto the bed, where she sat, confused, as he briskly closed the door and left.

Maxie walked as quickly as he could, returning downstairs to the lab to finish up. Though he wanted to work, instead he sat in abject silence, cursing himself over and over again, a seemingly permanent scowl on his face now. He tore off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with both hands, resting his head on them and leaning on the counter.

Big sigh. "I'm such a fool." He looked crestfallen, his chest in knots. He decided going to bed might be a better use of his time, and maybe he could forget about the whole encounter during his sleep. Yet as he went downstairs, got ready for bed, and lay there, it's all he could think about. Sleep being the furthest thing from his mind right now as the scene repeated in his mind, thinking about her in excruciating detail.

It was a long while before he finally drifted off.

May sat on the bed as Maxie left, hands shaking and heart pounding. She just wasn't sure how to react and she just silently wished to herself he was still back here, but judging by his reaction that wasn't something he'd do. Maybe not now or ever, and she was afraid that she scared him off.

She took off her shoes and laid down, curled up as tightly as she could manage as she laid there, thinking.

What was that? May kept turning it over in her mind. The look in his eyes while he inspected her, the way his lips felt, the smell of his breath, how it felt so warm pressed against him. She held one of her pillows tightly to her chest as she just kept thinking about him over and over again.

Eventually she lapsed into a fitful sleep.


	6. Undisclosed Desires

_They stood in the long cavern that was the entrance to Team Magma. May had turned her back to him. Maxie noticed that, under her arm was the bag full of belongings she had brought with her to stay._

"_I think I should go, Maxie," she told him._

_He went to protest, "But… what about the other trainer? Has he been handled yet?" He clenched his jaw, trying to steel himself to look indifferent, determined not to show his disappointment. Realistically, his chest ached, his neck was tense, he just wanted to shut himself away from everything because he felt like the world's worst garbage. This definitely wasn't what he wanted._

"_I've been training and getting stronger. I don't think I'll have a problem anymore. I just don't think it's right for me to stay here with you."_

_Maxie abhorred himself, putting a fist up to his mouth and closing his eyes. "I… hope you fare well, then. Stay safe."_

_May started walking away toward the water as she called over her shoulder, "Don't worry about me."_

Maxie woke up, his heart pounding and clammy with sweat. He buried his face in a pillow, trying to calm himself down. _These dreams have to stop_.

His heart felt heavy as he decided today to try to smother himself in work, so he didn't keep thinking about May or the fear he held. Distracting himself helped moderately, but any idle time while he was working would always lead him back to her. He couldn't shake it. It was like a burning at the back of his head that moved to his temples, an ache all along his spine.

All he could manage to think about aside of work was her. Every now and then he would find himself wrapped up in thoughts of May, running through his mind continuously, playing the last night over in detail. He would be caught up in a thought when people would come by to ask him questions and he'd snap at them.

It was still morning and he was disgruntled at everyone, especially his assistants. They had been getting things organized around the base and ordering supplies, asking a dozen questions, when he finally shouted at them for some peace.

* * *

"Holy jeez, what is wrong with the boss today?" Courtney asked Tabitha, who was putting things up on a shelf in one of the cabinets of the work room.

"I don't know, he seemed fine yesterday. He hasn't been sleeping well, I know that much." Tabitha frowned. "He seems really stressed out, you know?"

Courtney hushed her voice, as to not let the others working at the stations to hear. "You don't think it's because something happened? With… you know?" she made a pointing motion with her head in the direction of the living quarters. "What do you think?"

Tabitha thought, scratching her head. "It's possible… why would he be so irritable, though?"

"You think they're fighting?" Courtney said.

"We could always find out," Tabitha grinned.

Courtney smiled at that. They hadn't had much time to interrogate May since she got here. They didn't do much training and the boss had them doing a lot of the testing he'd been planning out since before he got back. Other than that, they tried to escape the base after work, because it got rather boring in their living quarters.

They planned to finish stocking all the supplies and try to find what May was up to. They had heard the newcomer spent most of her time in the arena, laying out all the Pokémon the other Team Magma members had to offer.

* * *

Courtney and Tabitha went downstairs in the afternoon to check here first after they were done working, walking into the training facilities and looking around. They did see trainers in the arena, but none of them were May. Searching across the far side, they found May grooming and preening her Swampert.

May was rubbing Swampert's smooth skin with a cloth when they approached. She looked up at them unenthusiastically, a somewhat pained look on her face as greeted them. "Hi Courtney, Tabitha. How are you guys?"

Courtney leaned on the rack nearby. "We're gooood, how are you, May?"

"I'm okay." May cast her eyes down to focus on Swampert.

"Just okay? Is everything alright?" Tabitha questioned, looking curiously at her.

May looked up at Tabitha, "Yeah, why?"

"No reason." Courtney and Tabitha both said, lending to their suspicious behavior.

May glanced sideways at each of them, but before she could speak, Courtney asked, "So, how have you been? Sorry we've been too busy to come by and see you…"

"Things have been… fine. I've just been training down here most of the time," May answered.

"What do you do for fun? Do you ever stop training?" Tabitha asked.

"I mean, yeah, I guess I read when I'm done. I work out, too." May was confused by all the questions they were asking all of a sudden.

"Huh, so you pretty much keep to yourself?" Courtney asked, rather pointedly.

"Yeah…" May stopped. She wasn't sure what to say, since she didn't want to tell them she spent all her evenings reading in the lab with Maxie. She looked around sorrowfully at the thought. Should she go there tonight? Would that be appropriate?

"Have you seen Maxie at all? I know he keeps to himself, too." Courtney explored.

May frowned at that, her chest tight.

"What?"

"It's nothing, sorry. I haven't really seen him," May lied, trying to avoid the subject. The mention of that name set her thinking about him and worrying. She mused about what he could have been thinking last night, or about why he was so quick to leave and shrug everything off.

Courtney looked off and sighed. "Eeehhh? Well, I guess it must be in the air."

May tilted her head. "What?"

"Everyone being depressed all of a sudden. Maybe it's a full moon. Maxie's been upstairs sulking around all day and biting our heads off." Courtney looked so nonchalant explaining this, crossing her arms.

May looked at her intensely. _Why would he be depressed?_

Tabitha set a hand on Swampert, "You know, I'm sure you being around could cheer him up."

May's heart raced as she thought about that idea. She didn't know what to do or how to act if she saw him. "I'm… I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not? He's always happier when you're around. This week I'd even say he's been bearable compared to his usual serious self," Tabitha explained.

Courtney offered in after a moment, "He cares about you a lot."

Her heart jumped. She knew he cared, she just didn't figure she was worth caring much about. Maybe she _should _see him. All this time she's been thinking about whether or not he was sick of her, or just playing with her, she thought about going to clear things up and confront her fears.

"Maybe I might, I'm sure it couldn't hurt," May said, making a small smile at them.

Courtney smirked mischievously and Tabitha simply grinned. Clapping her hands together, Courtney said, "I guess that settles it, then! We should go upstairs!"

"Ehh? What? Right now?!" May exclaimed at her.

"Yeah! We'll walk up with you." Courtney put an arm around May's shoulders.

"I… um…" May wanted to protest with every fiber in her being, but was too polite and scared to do so. "Let me call back Swampert, hold on." May took the Pokéball out of her bag, leaning over and stroking his head for a moment before summoning the big Pokémon back and putting it away.

Tabitha and Courtney pushed her towards the stairs and they all walked up to the lab. As they entered the lab, Maxie was in his usual spot, a stack of binders next to him as he was hard at work on writing. Both of the assistants pushed her in his direction, keeping their distance and finding a work table to sit at on the other end of the lab.

May felt like she was a mess, her hair was messy and she'd been working out, so she was sore. She approached Maxie and sat down at the stool next to him, which made a little creak as she sat. He looked over at her, a little surprised, pushing his glasses back up as she greeted him, "H-... Hey."

Maxie opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it again. He looked back at his work and picked up his pen, getting straight down to what had been on both of their minds all day. "I apologize about last night."

Courtney looked over at Tabitha and mouthed, "Last night?" a most curious look on her face.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked, her eyes downcast.

He shook his head. "A number of reasons." May noted that he had clearly been thinking about this a lot…

Her eyes wandered up to examine him as he started writing, off and on. "I don't understand." She tried to urge him to elaborate what he meant, since she wasn't sure she should say anything about the encounter. What could possibly be so wrong that he felt the need to apologize? Maybe he didn't mean what he did?

Maxie sighed heavily. He was tense again, his mind in overdrive as he thought over what to say. More than anything he didn't want to scare her off, and even more than that he wished for the opposite. He started speaking slowly, "I am old enough to know better than to do something like that. More than that, I should have respected you. I really don't know what I was thinking at the time."

"I don't see why that would be disrespecting me… You've been perfectly respectful." May said, her eyes trailing along the floor to study everything in the room in intricate detail. Anything but look at him.

At this point, Courtney and Tabitha were intrigued, listening as intently as they could, straining to hear from their position as they sat across the room. May and Maxie seemed to be speaking softer and softer with each exchange, and soon the assistants were certain the two would be so quiet they'd be whispering before long.

"Because it was unwarranted. You haven't done anything to provoke it, I should have kept that in mind, and I… I apologize for that. I just hope you can forgive me for being so brash." Maxie held his forehead in one hand as he stared at the papers in front of him, his brows furrowed. He took off his glasses and set them on the counter to rub his eyes.

May looked up at him again. There was something in her eyes and she felt chill all of a sudden, so cold and nervous that she wanted to shiver. "I still don't think that needs an apology, I'm perfectly fine. I- I'm sorry, Maxie, I just… You see, I'm just not good with these kinds of... _things_. I never know how to react or what to say, I always end up paralyzed with fear that I'm going to do something wrong." Her face started to turn pink as she spoke, rubbing her arms with both her hands.

"Wait, what are you trying to say?" Maxie looked up at her, perplexed.

"I- I guess what I'm trying to say is it wasn't unwanted… I'm just bad at this." May met his eye contact, smiling shyly. There was an intensity in his eyes as he searched her face, paired with worry lines and question.

Maxie's heart beat faster as he stared into her eyes. He stood and moved closer to her, raising a hand to caress her neck. He was already so close that he could feel May's body heat as he took her face in both of his hands. He still had a look of worry and caution on his face as he spoke, "You mean… This is okay?"

May, red with nervousness, tried to look down so she didn't have to keep looking him in the eyes, but couldn't get away. His eyes were a dark coffee color with flecks of red as he studied her. She whispered very quietly into the space between them, "Yes…"

As the word came out of May's mouth, he was running a hand through her hair, pressing his lips to hers gently a handful of times and he very carefully caressed her face, neck, and shoulders. He was still nervous to the point of shaking, but he continued.

As it happened, there was an unusually obnoxious gasp from across the room, and one excited "Ohhh man!" from Tabitha as they watched.

Maxie, now suddenly very annoyed, sent a death glare over at the two. "You could have warned me the village idiots were here." He spoke loud enough for them to hear him across the room.

Tabitha called over, "We couldn't miss this show! All we need is popcorn!"

Imitating a kind and caring voice, he said, "My wonderful, attentive assistants, I love you," and then Maxie told them flatly, "Leave."

Courtney raised a fist and shook it at him, shouting, "You're not the boss of us! Wait…"

"Get out!" He shouted at them.

"Fine, fine, whatever lovebirds. Have fuuuuun." Courtney called out in a sing-song voice, smiling mischievously, before walking with Tabitha back towards the door of the lab.

Maxie turned back to May, brushing her hair back with one of his hands. He smiled, crows feet at his eyes. His face was suddenly very soft and more relaxed than she'd ever seen it. He went to say something, but instead just wrapped his arms around May, pulling her head in close as he kissed her delicately, like he was afraid to break her. May didn't think someone could be so gentle…

She pressed her hands against his chest, then ran them up over his shoulders and around his neck. As she pulled him more into an embrace, he was intent on the feeling of her lips against his. Maxie rubbed the back of her neck and he started kissing her more fervently, opening his mouth slightly and running the tip of his tongue along her lips before pressing it into her mouth.

May was a little surprised at this, fidgeting and making a bunch of tiny surprised moaning noises. She really enjoyed this, but wasn't sure what to do with herself, so she continued to let Maxie control things.

He pulled back, looking at her face and glancing fixedly into her eyes. "May…" He whispered as he ran his hands over her hair.

She reached up to touch his face, running her fingers over his lips, cheeks, and chin. Maxie leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and kissing her fingers tenderly as she did so. May smiled at him, poking his nose with one finger. He smiled at her when she did this, leaning in and playfully planting tiny kisses under her ear a few times before grazing his teeth along her earlobe.

Not expecting the feel of his teeth, she made a scared little cry, which turned to him kissing and licking along her ear, then turned to gently nuzzling her ear and neck with his nose. Maxie wrapped his arm about her shoulders and squeezed her into a tighter hug, face buried in her neck for a couple moments.

Quietly, May spoke, "Maxie," making him pull away to look at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, hands resting on her shoulders.

She smiled at him in a blissful daze, dimples showing, "I'm great, I just never knew you'd feel this way." May withdrew her arms from around his neck, resting her hands against his chest.

"I guess neither did I. I-" Maxie stopped for a second, wanting to avoid saying certain things. "I really care about you, May. Being around you seems to make the world as a whole better, even in troubling times." He pressed one of his hands on top of May's, intertwining their fingers. He pulled her hand up to his lips, kissing her fingers that poked out between each of his as he looked affectionately at her.

"I never imagined you'd care like this," May said as she pulled their joined hands to lay on her chest, feeling his skin against hers. "I'm sorry if I'm not very experienced at this… I've just always been caught up in training too much to worry about romance."

Maxie smiled reassuringly, "It's quite alright. We can take things slowly. Just one step at a time, darling." He leaned in to touch his nose to hers and kiss her again, softly, the feel of his lips barely brushing hers.

Her heart fluttered at the word _darling_, it was like a dream. May never figured he would be such a tender person underneath the stoic exterior. It was as though despite his bitter front, he was the most delicate and affectionate man on the planet. She knew with great certainty that he cared for her, but didn't really do a good job of showing it. Then again, though she knew she has cared for him all this time, she tried not to show it at all.

He put his arms around May, holding her and pressing his face into her neck and shoulder, May doing the same in turn. They held each other for what seemed like a long while until Maxie pulled himself away, but left his hands on her shoulders still.

"I should probably let you go to sleep," he told her.

May groaned and laid her head against his chest, he squeezed her lightly at this motion. She didn't want this wonderful moment to end.

"It's going to be okay, we'll still see each other tomorrow," Maxie was smiling joyfully.

"I know… I should let you sleep, too, it just feels like such a long time," May admitted.

He thought for a moment. "How about this: Tomorrow afternoon, when I'm done with work, I'll make you dinner. What do you like to eat, anyways?"

Dinner? May thought about that prospect. She'd dated other trainers before, but no one had ever made her dinner. Generally they'd just meet somewhere. She had to think about that, "I love croquettes, fish, anything with pecha berries in it, potatoes…"

"Fantastic, I'll make croquettes tomorrow. Shall I meet you at your room around… how's 7?" Maxie asked her.

"That sounds amazing," May smiled at him sheepishly.

Maxie pulled her back into an embrace, taking this opportunity to give her a final, passionate kiss before letting her go and reaching down for his glasses. "Then it's a date. I'll see you tomorrow, my dear."

"I'll see you then. Good night!"

"Sleep well, May," he bid her a good night and turned to walk toward his room. He was drunk with joy.

May had gone off to her room, chest full of butterflies as she thought about all the affection Maxie showed her. Both of them caught up in musing about each other.


	7. Let Me Show You

Maxie paced the hallway. He knew minutes already passed, but kept looking at the time. Already a few minutes late, he stood in the hallway on the first sub-floor, his heart racing. He felt like a school kid again, his heart all aflutter with silly, blissful romance.

He knew he'd gone through it all before, how all the stories seemed to end for him, but he felt like this could be different. There was a reason why he didn't pay much attention to romantic whimsy, and it was because when it came down to work or emotions, work always seemed to win. He didn't have to ask why; It was because people didn't agree with his ideals and, no matter what happened, when it comes down to principles and people disagreeing with them, principles are going to win.

Maxie questioned himself. He questioned the thought of tonight and the thoughts of a fleeting forever. He was shaky and clammy and he wasn't sure how this was going to go over or if he was going to flub things. Though he had been careful around May, anything could happen. Maybe she could truthfully think terribly of him… No, he wasn't going to go into that again. That just got into backed into a corner of self-doubt, and if he started that now, this date wasn't going to happen.

Without further allowing himself to hesitate, he strode down the hallway toward May's room, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, he knocked on the door three times. He could hear thumping on the other side of the door and she came over to open it, peeking out before opening the door all the way.

May's hair was styled into ringlets, and she opened the door to reveal a pink and white dress and a pair of pink heels. She looked at Maxie, dressed in a simple, white long-sleeved shirt and slacks. Though it was simple, still looked handsome. She was blushing and her eyes looked shiny, as if she wanted to cry.

Maxie smiled, offering her his hand. "Darling, you look stunning," he said, as he took the tips of her fingers and kissed them. "Is everything alright?"

May cast her eyes down, "Everything is great, I'm just so nervous…" She played with a ribbon from the dress she was wearing before adding, "I- I've never had someone do something like this for me… So I'm a little overwhelmed…"

Maxie pulled her into an embrace and smiled at her, bringing her chin up with one hand to look her in the eyes as he put on the most comforting smile he could, "No need to be nervous." She smiled at him. _Jeez, why does she have to be so adorable?_ he thought to himself.

"Come, let's get dinner before it gets cold," he said, letting her go.

May looked around curiously. "Where are we go-" she started to talk before Maxie swept her up into his arms while she squeaked in surprised.

"Downstairs," he said pointedly.

"But- I can walk, I'm fine! You don't always have to carry me!" May protested.

Maxie turned to gently press her body against a wall, indirectly pushing her even closer to him as he pressed his lips to hers to quiet her. He did this for several seconds and stopped, which caught May so off guard she forgot what she was saying as her head spun.

"This is more fun," Maxie said, grinning mischievously. He leveraged her up against his body again as he started walking downstairs. May's tulle skirt was rather ungainly when walking with her in his arms.

Down two flights of stairs they went, walking down the hall past the training facilities towards his quarters. When he reached the room, he put May back down and opened the door, ushering her in and towards the study.

May walked into the study caught off guard. Just a few days ago it had been a dusty office of books, now transformed into a simple dining room lined with bookshelves. There was soft, bassy music playing; A mix of fluttery voices and cellos. Maxie walked behind to pull a chair out for her to sit before seating himself.

She was amazed. Dinner wasn't extravagant, but he had turned his study into the romantic candle-lit dinner of stories. A white linen tablecloth draped over the table, set with fine dinnerware, champagne flutes, and two tall candles that he lit as they sat.

"I do hope dinner is alright. I did cook, but it's been a while… I usually pay someone to do it for the whole team," Maxie tilted his head and shrugged a little.

May smiled. Dinner was croquettes and roasted potatoes, with a small plate nearby of cheesecake covered in jam. "Everything looks amazing," she said as she looked over it all.

He lifted a bottle of something before asking, "Aah, I guess I should have asked. Can you drink?"

"I'm not a child!" May playfully yelled at him. "Do you think I'm twelve or something?"

"Look, I could never know. You never ask a lady her age!" He held up his hands in surrender before working on opening the bottle, pouring them the champagne.

They talked and ate and drank, May asking questions about the work he usually does and his plans for the near future, Maxie asking her questions about her history, her plans for the future in the Pokémon League.

Though they both kept asking questions, it was though they never really got around to the questions they wanted to ask each other. May felt as if she had no right to be curious about anything, while Maxie felt too nervous to ask. The questions not only about the details of their life, but the details of their emotions that are always harder to ask because of the uncertainty of how the other will react.

When the two did finally drift off into a heavy silence as they finished eating, May looked around the room a little awkwardly. When Maxie noticed, he swallowed hard before tensely asking, "Is something wrong?"

May looked at him and then down at the table, thinking of what to say. "I'm sorry, Maxie. This is all wonderful and overwhelming. I mean...You're…" She looked off uncomfortably, not sure how else to say it.

He looked worriedly at her. "... Yes?"

She looked back up at him and her heart jumped, deciding to say it before she thought of any reason not to, "You're wonderful and amazing."

It was Maxie's turn to look down, his cheeks becoming the lightest shade of pink as he smiled and looked back up at her. He felt like a youth again, being so unequivocally head over heels for her, yet he was terrified of scaring her away. Very quietly and still looking down, he let out, "Thank you…"

He took a moment to think, looking back up at her and pushing up his glasses. "You are… quite enchanting. I could understand how a girl like you could be so desired."

May smiled at him, "Please, don't put it so coldly. Even if anyone did 'desire' me, I'm so bad at this…"

"I'm not an expert myself. It's been a long time since I saw anyone, so this is quite a change of pace for me. However, you are very desirable, you're like a beautiful gem. Or, if I may be so blunt, you're beautiful, May." He chose his words carefully, but still stumbled over them nervously.

She blushed red. To her, this was all some sort of revelation, since before she never thought anyone even paid much attention to her, let alone wanted her. Now, here Maxie was, telling her. She wasn't sure what to think or if maybe this was some sort of play, but she thought to herself, he always seemed a little nervous around her where he didn't around other people. She was the only person he went out of his way for.

"Maxie, I don't know why you like me, really," May said, pushing her hair behind her ears. "I mean, you say I'm beautiful, but I don't understand how that compares to you. You're this… dashing, intelligent man who clearly deserves more than just some young girl."

"I don't think you understand that 'just some young girl' is the strongest trainer I've ever known, my dear. Not only that, but I think your view is a little skewed. In anyone's standards, I'm far from dashing, I'm just a nerd. I mean, you did hear it from the way that one trainer talked, and I'm not exactly the sightliest person. Not to mention that my work usually keeps me very distanced from the ideals of other people," he explained. Clearly, he didn't honestly have much faith in himself, though he put on a good facade, and neither did she.

"I don't think that about you…" _If that's how other people think about you, I don't want to be like them_, May thought.

"I'm happy about that… And about you, because right now, you're all that matters to me." Maxie tried to smile consolingly. He abruptly stood and walked over to where May sat, pulling her out of her chair before wrapping his arms around her waist. He felt his heart rate speed up as he held her against him. "You're all I want to think about right now," he whispered to her, before kissing her very feverishly, breathing heavily as he did so.

May moaned softly as he passionately handled her, his hands running up and down her back as they kissed. He touched the bare skin between the straps of her dress, running his fingertips delicately along her skin. Every part of her that he touched was tingling.

Maxie pulled her toward his bedroom, which was dimly lit by the lamps there. He sat back on the bed as he pulled her to sit on his lap, laying his chin against her collarbone before kissing up her neck. He noticed the bruises that she came to the base with were nearly gone as he was examining every inch of her skin, kissing as he led a trail up to her lips, then gently biting a trail back down her neck to her collarbone.

May's heart raced, her breathing quick and shallow as his lips and teeth met her skin. She ran her hands through his hair and made him look up at her as she took his glasses off and set them aside on the bed. He continued about at her collarbone, kissing and biting as he started to wander down, grazing his nose against her skin while he moved to just above the hem of the dress, kissing the bare skin just above her breasts but not touching them.

She wasn't sure what to do while he did this. He started untying the ribbon that was fastened around the back of her neck as she thought to herself, _Oh no, is he really doing this? _However, Maxie let go of the ribbon and let it drape down, leaving her still quite covered. He wrapped his arms around her and swung her carefully over to lay on the bed and knelt over her, one knee between her legs as he continued to kiss and tease her skin.

After some hesitation, May decided to press her hands to his chest while he pressed his lips to hers again and again. Her fingers felt for the buttons of his shirt and, slowly and fumblingly, undoing them one by one. When she got the shirt halfway open, Maxie pulled away and sat back on his knees, sitting atop one of May's legs as he looked down at her. He smiled down at her, his shirt open to reveal his pale skin, before laying down on the bed next to her.

His hands roamed over her body, touching her hips, her stomach, her ribs, her shoulders, all but the most sensitive bits. Though he didn't outright touch them, it still felt like such torment. May rolled onto her side to kiss his neck several times while she tried to undo the last buttons of his shirt. May had just finally pulled the last button free, leaving his skin bare, when he slipped his fingertips under the hem of her top, pressing his fingers into her skin to work their way up her sides, massaging the area around, but not at, her breasts. She moaned slightly as her senses were heightened from the suggestive but lack of contact to that area.

Maxie took a moment to pull his shirt off, leaving his fair skin exposed to show very slight muscle tone and the lightest peppering of red hair here and there. He moved down far enough to plant a kiss just above May's navel as he began to slide the flowing shirt she wore up slowly, kissing up her stomach to the skin below her breasts, then gently, suspensefully, slid it up to reveal them, planting a tiny kiss on each nipple as he did so. May moaned, her knees shaking in the anticipation and excitement.

May slipped the shirt over her head while Maxie made his way back down to her collarbone before letting himself travel back to her chest, flicking the tip of his tongue over each of her nipples almost imperceptibly, which made the teasing motion even more intense. His eyes darted up to look at her face as he did so, seeing the pleasure take over her expressions while she wasn't paying attention to anything but the feeling. Her breathing quickened as he allowed himself to ease into licking and kissing the tip of one while massaging the other one gently. Maxie emitted a low, humming moan as he began to suckle softly at them, meanwhile May's tiny moans becoming fuller fledged as she opened her mouth and breathed out each moan.

Maxie thought for a moment while he stimulated May, thinking that he should likely stop before anything gets too far. Her curves, her skin, though... It was all very enticing, but he thought about the fact that they likely shouldn't do anything without ensuring some sort of protection.

Instead, he kissed his way back up to her mouth, holding her close so that their bare chests touched. At this point, Maxie was rather excitable, but tried not to call attention to it as he held her and kissed her affectionately.

They had laid there for quite some time like this before he ran a hand through her hair, smiling as he gazed at her. "We should probably stop, I ought to let you go to bed."

May made an expression of protest, whining, "But… this is all so nice, I don't want to go."

"I don't want you to go, either," he leaned over to bite her ear playfully. "However, if I don't, one thing might lead to another…"

"I'm…" May thought for a moment, pausing. "I'd be okay with that, Maxie…"

"We shouldn't rush things, darling. The time will come. In the mean time, keeping you here with me, like this, it just isn't fair." He rocked side to side with her in his arms while saying this.

"Why isn't it fair?" She questioned, a genuinely curious look on her face.

He briefly ran his fingertips down her chest. "Because you here like this is just mean, especially since I can't do anything to you right now without, you know, risking other things."

She made a soft moan as he touched her skin again. "I understand." She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him in to give him a long, slow kiss.

Maxie smiled at her, "It will have to wait for another time. For now, let's enjoy this."

They held each other for a little while longer, occasionally planting a kiss here or there. Eventually, May let go to put her shirt back on and readied herself to go to bed, exchanging one more parting kiss as she left.

Maxie closed the door as she went, leaning back against it for a few minutes. His heart still beat rapidly as he thought about her excitedly, something that continue would float around his mind while he drift off to sleep and while he worked. To him, she was perfect, and he was so enamored with her shy quirks and her hesitant way of speaking. He just hoped that he could keep her happy and not push her away...


End file.
